The book of topiary

. HANDBOOKS OP

PRACTICAL GARDENING

THE BOOK OF
TOPIARY

,

\ CHARLES H.CURTIS,

& W.GIB SON,

HANDBOOKS OF PRACTICAL GARDENING— XVIII
EDITED BY HARRY ROBERTS

THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

THE BOOK OF
TOPIARY

BY

CHARLES H. CURTIS, F.R.H.S.

ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE " GARDENERS' MAGAZINE " ; PREVIOUSLY
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S
GARDENS, CHISWICK; AND FORMERLY AT THE ROYAL GARDENS, KEW

AND

W. GIBSON

HEAD GARDENER AT LEVENS HALL, WESTMORELAND

" The man who sneers at me for admiring, as I
do, a well cut peacock, may take my assurance
in advance that I will neither kick him nor
abuse him ; but pity him I must."

SHIRLEY HWBERD.

JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD
LONDON AND NEW YORK. MCMIV

Turnbull &* Spears, Printers, Edinburgh

CONTENTS

PAGE

INTRODUCTION ....... i

TOPIARY ........ 4

EARLY HISTORY ....... 6

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY ... u

CRUSADE AGAINST TOPIARY . . . . . zi

ADDISON AND POPE ...... 24

REVIVAL OF THE ART . . . . . .32

THE FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN . . . -37

PLANTING AND MANURING . . . . .44

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES ..... 50

THE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING or YOUNG TREES . . 58

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A TOPIARY GARDEN . , 70

271109

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VIEW IN LEVENS GARDENS: SHOWING GARDENER'S HOUSE Frontispiece
Box TREE COTTAGE, RUSTINGTON . . . To face page z

(From a draiving by Mr W. Graham Robertson)

A PIG IN Box AT COMPTON WYNYATES . . ,, ,, 4

(Photo, by Mr F. Goods'}

A FARMYARD FOWL AT COMPTON WYNYATES . . ,, „ 6

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

A LEATHERN BOTTEL IN Box AT COMPTON WYNYATES . „ ,,6

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)
LEVENS GARDENS: THE BROAD WALK ... . „ „ 8

BOATS, PYRAMIDS, AND PEACOCKS . . . „ „ 10

(•By courtesy of Hfessrs Cheat)

THE HARLINGTON YEW . . . . ,, „ 12

(By courtesy of" The Gardener's Magazine"}

PEACOCKS, TABLES, SPIRALS, AND BOATS IN YEW AND Box ,, ,,14

(By courtesy of Messrs Chcal)
BEECH HEDGE AND BOWLING GREEN AT LEVENS . . „ „ 16

EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY VIEW OF LORD HAMILTON'S

GROUNDS NEAR THE THAMES . . . „ „ 18

(By courtesy of ' ' The Agricultural Economist ")
MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX . . . . . „ „ zz

(By courtesy of ( ' The Agricultural Economist ")
YEW TREE WITH BIRD . . . . . ,, „ 24

(By courtesy of Messrs Cut bush)
CROWN GARDEN, MUNTHAM COURT, SUSSEX . . ,, ,,28

(By courtesy of " The Agricultural Economist ")
QUEEN ELIZABETH'S CROWN AND JUG, ELVASTON CASTLE ,, ,, 30

(By courtesy of (( The Gardener's Magazine ")
HENS, DUCKS, AND PEACOCKS IN Box AND YEW . „ ,,32

(By courtesy of Messrs Cheal)

YEW TREE WITH BIRD — ANOTHER FORM . . „ „ 34

(By courtesy of Messrs Cut bush)

vii

viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

CUPPED YEWS AT A COTTAGE ENTRANCE . . To face page 36

(From JekyWs l( Old West Surrey." By courtesy

of Messrs Longmans , Green £5* Co.)

CROSSES AND JUGS IN Yew . . . . „ ,, 38

(By courtesy of Messrs Cheat}

VARIOUSLY-SHAPED YEW TREES . . . . ,, ,, 40

(By courtesy of Messrs Cutbush)

A PEACOCK CUT IN YEW AT COMPTON WTNYATES . „ „ 40

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

OLD-FASHIONED Box GARDEN, CHASTLETON HOUSE . „ „ 41

( By courtesy of Miss Whitmore Jones)

COTTAGE AT DITCHEAT, SOMERSET . . . ,, „ 44

(Photo, by Mr Hulbert)

CROSS IN YEW IN ST BONIFACE CHURCHYARD, BONCHURCH,

ISLE OF WIGHT . . . . . „ „ 48

YEWS AT MONTACUTE, SOMERSET . . . ,, „ 50

{Photo, by Mr F. Goode}

THE POST OFFICE, DITCHEAT . . . . „ „ 52

(Photo, by Mr Hulberf)

OLD EXAMPLE OF TOPIARY IN Box AT COMPTON WYNYATES ,, ,, 54

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

LEVENS GARDENS: GENERAL VIEW . . . ,, „ 56

A VERDANT PEACOCK . . . . . ,, „ 60

(Photo, by Mr Charles Thonger)

SEAT AT THE PRIORY, GLASTONBURY . . . „ „ 62

(Photo, by Mr Hulberf)

LEVENS GARDENS: UMBRELLA, INDIAN WIGWAM, AND EAST

WALK . „ „ 66

ARM-CHAIR IN Box AT COMPTON WYNYATES . . ,, ,,68

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

THE COTTAGER'S PRIDE . . . . . „ „ 70

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX . . „ „ 72

A SWAN IN Box AT COMPTON WYNYATES , . ,, ,, 72

(Photo, by Mr F. Goode)

LEVENS GARDENS: SHOWING LETTER B AND LION . „ „ 76

NOTE. — The Publisher "will be glad if readers ivill send him, at Figo Street, W.,
photographs or notes of any remarkable specimens of 'Topiary ', for inclusion in
a ne-w edition.

INTRODUCTION

IT is extremely fortunate that the Editor made no limita-
tions, beyond that of space, when giving me the invita-
tion to contribute a historical account of the Art of
Topiary, as a sort of preface to the practical advice
given in later chapters by Mr Gibson, who has charge
of the wonderful collection of clipped trees at Levens
Hall. This is fortunate, because it would have been
difficult either to wholly praise or wholly blame an art
that for at least a century and a half provided English
gardens with their outstanding feature. It were easy
for us to dismiss the whole subject of Topiary by affect-
ing a great superiority and referring to it only as a
monument of perverted taste, but that would neither
provide interest nor give instruction, and it is hoped
that both these ends may be served so far as the space
at disposal will permit.

As it is an undoubted fact that for about one hundred
and fifty years Topiary was both fashionable and popular,
it follows that, whatever our taste may be, a considera-
tion of the subject cannot be lacking in interest. Never
did a horticultural fashion retain its hold upon a garden-
ing public so long as Topiary, but as fashions rarely
come spontaneously but are rather arrived at by a kind
of evolutionary process, so the art of Verdant Sculpture
must have had its Early History, followed by a develop-
ment of design limited only by the ingenuity of the
gardener. Then came what one may call the Golden
Age of Topiary, when every garden having any pre-
tensions whatever to importance was more or less notable

2 . INTRODUCTION

according to the degree of formality found in its design
and furnishing. The inevitable reaction followed next,
and had its beginning in a Crusade which found able
supporters in those two brilliant essayists and satirists,
Addison and Pope. The old order changed, and
considering its age, it changed with a rapidity for which
there seems to be no parallel in horticulture. No doubt
many trees were permitted to grow naturally after years
of close cropping and carving, but doubtless also many
thousands were uprooted and destroyed by the landscape
gardeners who were practising — notably Bridgeman and
Kent — when the decline of Topiary set in. And not
only were clipped trees destroyed, but many a splendid
close trimmed hedge of box and yew was swept
away, leaving the garden unsheltered and unsecluded.
Extremes met, as was but natural, when once the tide
of fashion turned, and it has been left for the present
times to properly adjust the balance between extreme
formality on the one hand and too close a copy of nature
on the other.

We can appreciate the shelter and beauty of a well
trimmed hedge in the garden, and, in its proper place, we
find no fault with a straight terrace walk. Still further,
we are collecting old sundials or fashioning new ones on
old models, and in some of the best gardens of the day
the garden seats have a comfortable old-time appearance.

The principle of associating like with like is gaining
ground, and in numerous fine establishments the interest
of the place is wonderfully increased and extended by
gardens devoted to certain subjects. We have Rose
Gardens, Rhododendron Gardens, Bamboo Gardens,
Michaelmas Daisy Gardens, etc., and lastly, we have
Topiary Gardens. These latter do not now as hereto-
fore overpower everything else ; they are simply part
of a whole scheme for providing a continuation of
pleasure, beauty and interest ; they serve as a reminder

BOX TREE COTTAGE

RUSTINCTON

INTRODUCTION 3

of a quaint stage in the progress of horticulture, and
show what a wonderful vitality is possessed by yew,
box, and some few other evergreen shrubs.

This little book, then, is not placed before the public
with any fervent hope that it will incite garden lovers
to at once sally forth with shears and scissors to attack
the nearest yew tree ; nor is it issued with a desire that
garden makers may be induced to plant clipped trees
extensively. Further, the " Book of Topiary " can
hardly be said to "supply a long felt want" in the
general sense in which that very hackneyed phrase is
used. Why comes it, then ? What are its claims to
popular consideration ? It comes to provide an hour's
reading upon one of the most distinct and interesting
branches of horticulture that the art has ever produced.
Its claims to consideration are, chiefly, that in it are
gathered together the main incidents that go to make
up the history of Topiary, and it presents to readers the
cultural experience of one whose opportunities for
gaining such experience are unequalled.

Topiarian history is somewhat difficult to piece
together, and, so far as the writer is aware, no attempt
has hitherto been made to place such a history before
the gardening public. It is, therefore, modestly sug-
gested that this work is somewhat unique among books
dealing with horticultural subjects, and it is hoped it
may be found to deserve a position in every garden
library.

C. H. CURTIS.

TOPIARY

" If I do not defend the taste through thick and thin, I am prepared
to admit that much may be said in its favour, and it is far from my
intention to denounce it as either extravagant or foolish. It may be
true, as I believe it is, that the natural form of a tree is the most
beautiful possible for that particular tree, but it may happen that we
do not always want the most beautiful form, but one of our own
designing, and expressive of our ingenuity." — Shirley Hibberd.

MODERN horticultural works, and especially those that
are of the Dictionary type, do not as a rule take any
notice whatever of Topiary, and those in which it
is noticed deal with the subject with a brevity that is
provoking, inasmuch as the student is little or none
the wiser for the information given. " Johnson's
Gardeners' Dictionary" is silent on the subject, and
" Cassell's Popular Gardening " may be searched in vain
for any reference to it.

Mr G. Nicholson, F.L.S., V.M.H., in his celebrated
" Dictionary of Gardening," writes, under Topiary,
" Although the absurd fashion of cutting and torturing
trees into all sorts of fantastic shapes has, happily,
almost passed away, yet, as the art of the Topiarist was
for a considerable period regarded as the perfection of
gardening, some mention of it is desirable here. When
the fashion first became general in Britain, it is probably
impossible to ascertain ; but it reached its highest point
in the sixteenth century, and held its ground until
' driven out of the field in the last (eighteenth) century
by the natural or picturesque style. From an archaeo-
logical point of view, it is not to be regretted that

4

A PIG CUT IN BOX AT COMl'TON WVNYATES

TOPIARY 5

examples of Topiary work on a large scale still exist
in several British gardens." Turning to the very
recent " CasselPs Dictionary of Gardening "an all too
concise account is found, but Mr W. P. Wright admits
therein that Topiary " finds favour in many quarters
to-day, although it only differs in degree and not in
principle from the best examples of the Topiary art of
the sixteenth century."

Encyclopaedias tell us very little of Topiary, and even
that monumental work the " Encyclopaedia Britannica "
contains within its portly tomes no reference to so
historically interesting a subject, unless it be curiously
hidden away. And even that very useful work
" Chambers' s Encyclopaedia" passes over Topiary as
though such an art never existed.

To students of Etymology the word Topiary itself is
of considerable interest. For the present work it must
suffice to say that it is derived from the Latin topiarzus,
pertaining to ornamental gardening. One dictionary
definition or meaning of the word is "shaped by cutting
or clipping " and horticulturists will agree that this
definition is both clever and descriptive, for Topiary
work consists in giving all kinds of more or less fanciful
forms to trees, hedges, and arbours.

An interesting reference is made in the " History of
Oxfordshire " to the use of the phrase " Topiary Work."
It is stated therein that " at Hampton Court, which was
laid out about the middle of the reign of Henry VIII.
by Cardinal Wolsey, there was a labyrinth, which still
exists, covering only the quarter of an Acre of ground,
yet its walks extending by their volutions over nearly
half a mile. The walls also were covered with Rosemary.
It was also long celebrated for its trees cut into grotesque
forms, which Dr Plot admired and dignified with the
name of Topiary Works."

EARLY HISTORY

"Little low hedges, round like welts, with some pyramids, I like
well ; and in some places fair columns, upon frames of carpenters'
work." — Bacon.

JUST how far back in the history of gardens and garden-
ing the art of Topiary was first practised there is no
means of telling, but we know that gardening was first
practised as a source of food supply, and that pleasure
gardening did not occupy a very prominent position
among the arts and sciences until civilisation had made
considerable advances. Architecture had progressed in
a wonderful manner and reached a high state of perfec-
tion long before horticulture assumed any great import-
ance. To use Lord Bacon's elegant words, " when ages
grow to civility and elegancy, men come to build stately,
sooner than to garden finely, as if gardening were the
greater perfection." This being so, it does not seem so
very unreasonable to presume that the ancient builders
of stately edifices would not in designing the surround-
ing gardens, plant trees and shrubs likely to mask,
soften, or detract in any way from the architectural
features created at so great an expenditure of time and
money. They would the rather be likely to plant the
more formal trees near the mansion, keeping the more
graceful at a distance. The love of the formal among
the Greeks may be evidenced from the writings of
Theocritus, the pastoral poet of Greece, who compares
the beauty of Helen to that of a Cypress. Following
up this idea, a reason for keeping evergreen and other

A FARM-YARD KO\VI, AT COMI'TON YVYNYATES

A LEATHERN BOTTEL " CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES

EARLY HISTORY 7

trees closely clipped is apparent. From the mere clipping
of these subjects so as to keep them in harmony with the
architecture, to the cutting of evergreens into fantastic
shapes, is not a very wide transition, but whether the
latter style was first adopted by the Grecian or the
Roman gardeners does not appear.

We do know, however, that the Romans practised
Topiary freely and that they were also fine architects
and builders. Even in the formation of sheltering
groves of forest trees to provide welcome shade from
the bright sunshine, the Romans adopted the formal
quincunx method of disposing the trees. How much
more, then, would they have been ready in that age of
undeveloped taste in the design and planting of gardens
to welcome a method of training and culture that enabled
them not only to bring the garden up to the mansion
without any resultant loss of architectural effect, but
also permitted them to carry architecture into the garden
and apply it in a more or less fantastic manner to the
trees themselves.

On the authority of Martial we learn that the art of
Topiary was first introduced to the Romans by Cneus
Matius. Matius was the friend of Julius Caesar and
a particular favourite of Augustus, but whether he
originated or borrowed the idea we know not. As
a court favourite, however, he must have had ample
opportunity for propagating this particular method
of gardening, and doubtless then, as now, a fashion
set at court was quickly followed by all who wished
to be up-to-date. Good or bad, the taste spread, and
even such a man of taste and letters as Pliny the
Roman Consul considered it quite the proper thing
to use Topiary work extensively in his famous Tuscan
Villa. In a letter written by Pliny the Younger to his
friend Apollinaris (Ep. v. 6) is a fine description of
this garden. Melmoth's translation pictures the front

8 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

of the Portico as opening on to a sort of Terrace
" embellished with various figures, and bounded with
a Box Hedge, from which you descend by an easy
slope, adorned with the representation of divers animals
in Box, answering alternately to each other: this is
surrounded by a walk enclosed with tonsile evergreens,
shaped into a variety of forms. Behind it is the
Gestatio, laid out in the form of a Circus, ornamented
in the middle with Box, cut into numberless different
figures, together with a plantation of shrubs prevented
by the shears from running too high : the whole is fenced
in by a Wall, covered with Box, rising in different
ranges to the top." After dealing with trees, roses,
etc., he continues : " Having passed through these
winding alleys, you enter a straight walk, which breaks
out into a variety of others divided off by Box hedges.
In one place you have a little meadow ; in another the
Box is cut into a thousand different forms ; sometimes
into letters expressing the name of the master; some-
times that of the artificer ; whilst here and there little
Obelisks rise intermixed alternately with fruit trees,
when on a sudden you are surprised with an imitation
of the negligent beauties of rural Nature, in the centre
of which lies a spot surrounded with a knot of dwarf
Plane Trees."

It must not, however, be assumed that the Romans
were entirely without appreciation of natural beauty and
scenery. Far from it. But they loved lavish displays
of art, and this also led them to use the gardens im-
mediately surrounding their dwellings as a gallery in
which to. arrange their collections of sculptured trees.
Roman poets and philosophers alike have left in their
writings ample evidence that the beauties of nature
were greatly admired by their countrymen, but at that
period, when Rome was the mistress of the world,
Italy was well supplied with natural sylvan scenery, and

EARLY HISTORY g

consequently, where it was not at all necessary to
cultivate this particular form of gardening, the desire
for contrast and display led to a very widespread
adoption of the art of Topiary.

From the gardens of the wealthy Romans the taste
for clipped trees and general formality of design was
carried throughout the Empire. Doubtless the monks
who carried the arts of gardening throughout the
European continent took with them and put into
practice a taste for Topiary. In their wall-encircled
monastic gardens dense hedges would rise both for
the provision of shelter and to afford additional seclu-
sion, and in a modest way these would in all probability
be embellished by verdant sculptures.

But it was much later than this that Topiary com-
menced to be one of the chief features of garden design,
for with the corruption of the ruling powers came the
decline of the Roman Empire, and then followed the
Dark Ages wherein the clash of arms, coupled with
deep superstition, put gardening, as a pleasure, out of
the question, so that except in some few cases it was
only conducted at all because of the necessity of pro-
viding a meagre food supply. For long, long years
war-like occupations were, either from choice or
necessity, in the ascendant. But there presently came
a time when peace again reigned and arts and commerce
flourished ; gardening revived, and in Italy where still
remained many examples of the grandeur of Ancient
Rome, it soon flourished in the establishments of the
wealthy princes.

Although Charlemagne revived the art of gardening
in France in the eighth century, he was not the kind
of man to care much for garden display ; he rather
introduced useful fruits and encouraged the cultivation
of herbs and fruits wholly from an economic point of
view. So we are compelled by the lack of historical

10 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

information to pass on to much later times ere we can
again take up the tale of Topiary.

Loudon points out that the Roman style of gardening
was lost in England when the Romans abandoned this
country at the beginning of the fifth century, but he
surmises that, following the revival of gardening in
France by Charlemagne, William the Conqueror would
probably re-introduce it at the end of the eleventh
century. Some little progress was made in the reigns
of Henry I. and Henry II., and it was the former who
formed the Park at Woodstock (1123), probably the
first of which there is any record. In accord with the
prevailing taste, it contained a labyrinth, which appears
to have chiefly constituted the Bower so intimately
associated with the fate of Rosamund.

But during the twelfth century there was very little
of either design or taste in the arrangement of gardens.
These latter were of limited extent and, because of the
feudal broils that enlivened the monotony of existence,
they were for the most part attached only to the larger
establishments, and in them were confined within the
Glacis, or first line of defence, which was a necessity of
the times. Beyond the inevitable moat, orchards arose,
wherein the horticultural! y inclined among the baron's
retainers could indulge their taste for ornamental
gardening ; a taste which consisted then, according to
Johnson, and continued to a much later age, " in having
plants cut into monstrous figures, labyrinths, etc."

So common a part of garden design did labyrinths and
mazes become at this period and during the thirteenth
century, that we find scarcely a plan among the many
given by De Cerceau in his " Architecture," issued about
1250, in which either a round or a square one does not
appear. This brings us into the thirteenth century, an age
wherein the taste for architecture and gardening spread
northwards and especially took a firm hold in Holland,

EARLY HISTORY n

where then, and later, the wealthy merchant princes
liberally encouraged almost all branches of horticulture.
Thus encouraged the florists entered heartily into the
business of supplying their patrons, and, aided by a
suitable climate and the various inventions born of
necessity, they made Holland famous throughout the
world for its commercial horticulture. So careful, how-
ever, were the Dutch of every inch of land, much of it
reclaimed, that they laid out their gardens with mathe-
matical precision and consequent primness, carrying this
principle into the very trees and plants themselves.

It was in the early part of the fourteenth century that
Pierre de Crescent, of Bologna, wrote his work on Agri-
culture, wherein he describes the kinds of pleasure
gardens suitable for various classes of the community,
and a suggestion of formality of design and the use of
Topiary is made in his observation that a royal garden
should contain a menagerie, and also an aviary placed
among thickets, arbors and vines.

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY

" I confess that I should never care to adorn my garden with topiary
or with carpet bedding ; but I hope always to be cautious in making
declarations in respect of such matters, that I may not appear to
despise another man's pleasures, or vainly desire to set up a standard
of my own in opposition to the delightful variety that is ensured by
the free exercise of individual taste and fancy." — Shirley Hibbtrd.

"While perhaps not admiring these birds and beasts, we must, I
think, in a measure agree with Loudon, that many old-fashioned
gardens have suffered in losing the quaint forms of cropped yews,
which added a certain charm to them." — John Lowe, M.D., in "Yew
Trees of Great Britain and Ireland."

THE dawn of the sixteenth century saw the commence-
ment of what may be called the Golden Age of Topiary.
It was also the beginning of an age of romance, of
stirring deeds, of great discoveries ; an age when men
of genius were numerous, when history was being
rapidly made, and when the art of gardening began to
flourish freely. Though the times were stirring ones
and there was not always " peace within our borders,"
commerce grew and wealth increased, so that gardening
became more and more popular and steadily grew more
and more elaborate in design. To the existing style
were added the extravagances of the French and the
formalities of the Dutch schools, but these things did
not all come to pass at once.

It is most probable that the Old and Formal English
Gardens as we know or imagine them, were the develop-
ment of at least two hundred years, and probably the
type had not been reached until the reign of Charles II. ,
notwithstanding such gardens are frequently alluded to

THE HARLINGTON YEW
(As dipped 1729 -1790)

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY 13

as Elizabethan. This idea seems the more reasonable
after a perusal of Withington's " Elizabethan England,"
for though the Editor gives us Harrison's description of
Gardens and Orchards, Woods and Marshes, Parks and
Warrens, there is never a word that can be construed
into a reference to Topiary, not even in his account of
" the palaces belonging to the prince."

Nevertheless, quaint gardens were formed before the
time of Elizabeth, Shakespeare, Drake, Raleigh, and
Gerard. A curious conceit in these old-time gardens
was the formation of a mound in the pleasure grounds,
where none previously existed, and this seems to have
been quite the correct thing in the way of garden design
even as late as Evelyn's day, for we learn that he
arranged for a "mountaine" in the family gardens at
Wotton, in Surry. Leland, in his "Itinerary" (1540),
refers to this feature in garden design in connection with
the garden at Wrexhill Castle, near Howden, in York-
shire. He says: "The Gardens within the mote, and
the Orchardes without were exceeding fair. And yn
the Orchardes were mounts, opere topiorii, writhen
about with degrees like the turnings in cokil shelles, to
come to the top without payn."

That Topiary had already a considerable hold upon the
garden-loving public at this early date cannot be
doubted. Very few of these ancient gardens remain
unaltered at the present time, but in that most interesting
book, " A history of Gardening in England," the Hon.
Alicia Amherst gives the plans of Sir Henry Dryden's
gardens at Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire, which
show that clipped yews are prominent features, as two
rows of four trees each line one of the approaches, and
these trees have a diameter of about ten feet. The
author states that this garden, originally made in 1550,
was altered in 1708, " and has defied the changes of
fashion for nearly two centuries."

i4 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

Gerard (1545-1607), the famous old Herbalist who
was gardener to Lord BurghJey in the reign of Elizabeth,
does not enlighten us as to the use of clipped trees, but
Parkinson, another and equally famous Herbalist, who
was born in 1567 and died about 1640, does give us a
little information on the subject. Parkinson was
Apothecary to James I., and Charles II. made him
Botanicus Regius Primarius ; he therefore had the
advantage of exceptional opportunities for studying the
plants of his time and their uses. Indeed some of the
quaintest things ever printed are the accounts of the
"Virtues" of the several parts of the plants described
by Parkinson and by Gerard. Pointing out that the yew
was largely used both for "shadow and an ornament,"
Parkinson seems to regret that the privet had not re-
ceived proper attention at the hands of Topiarists simply
because of its widespread use as a hedge plant, and he
advocates its further employment by remarking that
" to make hedges or arbours in gardens ... it is so apt
that no other can be like unto it, to be cut, lead, and
drawn into what forme one will, either of beasts, birds,
or men armed or otherwise."

Because of its comparatively slow rate of growth the
yew has been the subject usually employed by topiarists,
while box is a good second in point of popularity. Both
these trees or shrubs have the additional merit of
longevity. Wordsworth points out both the slow
growth and longevity of the yew in his lines : —

" There is a yew-tree, pride of Lorton Vale,
Which to this day stands single, in the midst
Of its own darkness, as it stood of yore,
Not loth to furnish weapons for the bands
Of Umfraville or Percy ere they marched
To Scotland's heaths ; or those that crossed the sea
And drew their sounding bows at Azincour,
Perhaps at earlier Crecy, or Poictiers.
Of vast circumference and gloom profound
This solitary tree I — a living thing

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY 15

Produced too slowly ever to decay ;
Of form and aspect too magnificent
To be destroyed."

Heslington, near York, still boasts an ancient Topiary
garden, where all the clipped trees are of yew. This,
as well as the clipped hedges of Rockingham, and the
hedges and clipped trees at Erbistock, date, accord-
ing to the Hon. Alicia Amherst, from about 1560.
Other trees and shrubs were also used by the tonsile
artists, and even Rosemary was not omitted. Barnaby
Googe (about 1578) observed that the women folk
planted it and trimmed it into shapes "as in the fashion
of a cart, a peacock, or such things as they fancy."

William Harrison, Rector of Radwinter, and Canon of
Windsor, who wrote " A Description of England" con-
tained in " Holinshed's Chronicles," has already been
referred to. He was a most observant man and one
who in his own picturesque language " had an especiall
eye unto the truth of things " ; from 1586 to 1593 ^e
was Canon of Windsor, and therefore anything he has
to say about gardens is of unusual interest. His keen
patriotism shines brightly through all his writings, and
his high opinion of his own land is not in any way
reduced when he comes to discourse upon gardens,
for he writes : " I am persuaded that, albeit the gardens
of the Hesperides were in times past so greatly
accounted of, because of their delicacy, yet, if it were
possible to have such an equal judge as by certain
knowledge of both were able to pronounce upon them,
I doubt not but he would give the prize unto the
gardens of our days, and generally over all Europe, in
comparison of those times wherein the old exceeded."

Early in the succeeding century, however, we come
upon some more positive evidence of the use of Topiary
work. Lawson, in 1618, shows more clearly that
Topiary had become an important branch of the art of

1 6 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

gardening, and that the designs carried out by some of
the artists were, to say the least of it, remarkable. As
indicative of the progress already made, he states :
" Your gardener can frame your lesser wood to the
shape of men armed in the field, ready to give battell :
or swift-running Grey Hounds to chase the Deere, or
hunt the Hare. This kind of hunting shall not waste
your corne, nor much your coyne."

In the reign of Charles II. (1669-1685), garden
design and garden ornamentation reached a degree of
extravagance not previously attempted and not subse-
quently repeated. This was the time when Le Notre
rose to be the most famous gardener in Europe, a time
when Louis XL was King of France (1643-1715).
During this period there was a great striving after
effect on the part of all possessed of ample means,
while both aristocrat and plebeian desired and loved to
be dazzled by brilliance or enchanted by the novel and
singular. From Johnson we learn that during a
residence at the court of France, Charles II. became
enamoured of the French style of ornamental gardening
introduced by Le Notre. This style differed chiefly
from that already in vogue in its magnificence ; every-
thing was carried out more elaborately and regardless
of expense. " The alleys were lengthened, but still
there were alleys, jets d'eau, mazes, parterres and
statues, dipt trees and mathematically formed borders
as of yore." It is said that the extravagance in garden
ornamentation at Versailles was designed and carried
into effect by Le Notre at a cost of two hundred million
francs, or over £8,250,000. The great features were
huge marble-edged water-basins, elaborate fountains, an
abundance of masonry for the terraces, and clipped yew
and box, making a sum total described at a much later
date by Mr Wm. Robinson, in his " Parks and Gardens
of Paris "as " the deadly formalism of Versailles."

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY 17

Charles II. encouraged elaborate garden design, and,
with it, Topiary ; it was under his orders that Le Notre
himself laid out the semi-circular garden at Hampton
Court. Gibson, who made a tour of London gardens
in the reign of the " Merry Monarch," shows by his
writings that the chief features of these establishments
were the terrace walks, evergreen hedges, " shorn
shrubs in boxes," and orange and myrtle trees.

In the earlier part of the seventeenth century the
gardens of Bilton and Chilham were designed, with
an accompaniment of clipped trees, while later in the
century Sir William Temple, who negotiated the triple
alliance between England, Sweden, and the Netherlands,
laid out a Dutch garden at Moor Park. He had a large
affection for the Dutch style of gardening, but was
nevertheless quick to see that big formal gardens and
their elaborate designs and masonry cost more to
maintain in prim order than many who possessed them
could well afford. It was also about this time that the
now famous Topiary garden at Levens Hall, in West-
moreland, was laid out by Beaumont, one of Le Notre's
disciples. According to the inscription under his portrait
at Levens Hall, Beaumont was " Gardener to James II.
and Colonel James Grahme. He laid out the gardens
at Hampton Court and at Levens." It was probably in
some alteration of the Hampton Court gardens that
Beaumont took part.

Topiary gardening reached its height during the
reign of William and Mary (1689-1702). William III.,
Prince of Orange, brought with him a taste for clipped
yews, and also for elaborately designed iron gates and
railings. He accentuated the prevailing taste. Turn-
ing again to Johnson, we find garden design " was now
rendered still more opposed to nature by the heavy
additions of crowded hedges of Box, Yew, etc., which,
however, by rendering the style still more ridiculous,

1 8 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

perhaps hastened the introduction of a more natural
taste which burst forth later." Some further idea of
the prevalence of clipped trees is obtained from Celia
Fiennes, who, in her chronicles of a journey " Through
England on a Side Saddle in the time of William and
Mary," makes frequent reference to alleys of clipped
trees and to yew and cypress cut into " severall forms."
William III. commenced the Kensington Gardens, and
to alter a disfiguring gravel pit he employed the ser-
vices of those famous Brompton nurserymen, London
and Wise. In our time such a spot would in all proba-
bility be converted into a dell, with water and rock
gardens, but London and Wise erected a mimic fortifica-
tion, making the bastions and counterscarps of clipped
yew and variegated holly. That this production was
44 long an object of wonder" can be easily understood,
though whether it was one for "admiration" is open to
question, notwithstanding that it had many admirers and
was known as the " Siege of Troy."

Vegetable sculpture seems now to have reached its
limit of popularity and design. Hazlitt, in his " Gleanings
in old Garden Literature," hits off the situation admirably
when he writes : " But it was to the Hollanders that
London and his partner were indebted for that pre-
posterous plan of deforming Nature by making her
statuesque, and reducing her irregular and luxuriant
lines to a dead and prosaic level through the medium
of the shears. Gods, animals, and other objects were
no longer carved out of stone ; but the trees, shrubs
and hedges were made to do double service as a body
of verdure and a sculpture gallery."

Evelyn, the celebrated diarist, who lived throughout
the greater part of the seventeenth century, and just
over five years of the eighteenth, strongly censured
the prevalent method of clipping fruit trees into regular
form, as well he might, but he claimed to be the first

GOLDEN AGE OF TOPIARY 19

to bring the yew into fashion for hedges, declaring it
to be "as well for a defence as for a succedaneum to
cypress, whether in hedges or pyramids, conic spires,
bowls or what other shapes." And further he adds, " I
do again name the yew, for hedges, preferably for beauty
and a stiff defence, to any plant I have ever seen."
Evelyn's residence from 1652 to 1694 was Sayes Court,
Deptford, a home made famous to students of history
because of its occupation by Peter the Great, of Russia,
in 1698, to whom it was sub-let by Admiral Benbow.
Peter the Great did not take the same care of the garden
as Evelyn had taken, and his destruction, in part at least,
of a famous holly hedge, caused the owner to regard
the Russian Czar as a " right nasty tenant." An old
writer informs us, with reference to Sayes Court, that
Evelyn had (^a. pleasant villa at Deptford, a fine garden
for walks and hedges, and a pretty little greenhouse
with an indifferent stock in it. He has four large
round philareas, smooth clipped, raised on a single
stalk from the ground, a fashion now much used.
Part of his garden is very woody and shady for
walking ; but not being walled, he has little of the
best fruits."

The beginning of the end was not now far to seek.
One of our greatest modern landscape gardeners, Mr
H. E. Milner, has written: "Precise designs of clipped
box and yew are not out of place, if the building has a
character that is consonant with such an accompaniment."
Not satisfied with a few clipped trees in suitable posi-
tions, or with a part of the garden devoted to examples of
Topiary, owners and gardeners alike, in the times I have
briefly reviewed, seemed to have laboured to fill their
gardens with illustrations of geometric figures, in box or
yew ; with the quaintest patterns and wierdest shapes,
caricaturing birds and beasts, and imitating architecture
and things of common use. Distorted vegetation met the

20 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

eye everywhere, and there was little of the natural and
beautiful to relieve the general monotony. It was the
excessive use of Topiary that led to its own downfall and
caused Batty Langley to ask, " Is there anything more
shocking than a stiff, regular garden ? "

CRUSADE AGAINST TOPIARY

"The Dutch Garden in front of Hampton Court Palace is unob-
jectionable, because it is in character with that part of the building
and as a royal garden it ought to remain as it is, were it only to
serve as an illustration of the style of gardening in the time of
William and Mary." — Charles JVL'Intosh.

WHENEVER a fashion runs to extremes its end is not
far to seek. On the one hand, a fashion becomes too
general for those who have a taste for novelty, and
especially for *those who can afford at almost any cost
to have something not available to the general public.

On the other hand, a fashion carried to excess becomes
inconvenient and ridiculous, therefore it at once becomes
offensive to those who are regarded as having good
taste. And so it came about that when Topiary work
had spread itself over all the gardens of the time and
could hardly go further either in extent or design, there
came the inevitable reaction. The same sort of thing
has happened even in quite modern times.

One need not be very old to have seen the famous
trained specimen plants that used to grace the highly
successful exhibitions at the Royal Botanic Society's
gardens, at the Crystal Palace, and elsewhere. Yet
these giants have passed away, and in their places we
have larger stocks of smaller and more easily grown
subjects — in other words, the fashion has changed.
" Bedding-out" reached such a height of fashionable
popularity that it threatened to exclude the beautiful
hardy perennial flowers from many a garden ; it taxed
the patience and ingenuity of the gardener and the purse

22 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

of the employer almost to breaking point — it passed
from reasonableness to absurdity. Then came a new
order of things ; perennials have been brought back
and improved ; hardy flowers are the fashion.

When Topiary threatened to exclude all else from
the garden there arose several apostles of freedom,
and these conducted a crusade against the art. Among
those whose writings are more or less regarded in these
days mention may be made of three — Bacon, Addison,
and Pope.

The former early raised a protest, for in the times
of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, when Topiary
was the prevailing taste if not the general fashion, he
wrote, "I for my part do not like images cut in jumper
or other garden stuff; they be for children." It was
Bacon also who said : " As for the making of knots
or figures that they may lie under the windows of the
house on that side which the garden stands, they be
but toys ; you may see as good sights many times in
tarts." But, alas, Bacon was curiously inconsistent.
He would away with Topiary, but he puts forward as
the best type of a garden one that is square, enclosed
in an arched hedge, " with a turret over every arch,
and a cage of birds in each turret, and over every space
between the arches some other little figure with broad
plates of round coloured glass, gilt, for the sun to play
on." Those who so aptly quote Bacon when they pour
out the vials of their wrath upon Topiary through the
medium of the public press, may also be further
reminded that Bacon would have in his ideal garden a
fountain " embellished with coloured glass and such
things of lustre."

But however much we may chuckle over the incon-
sistencies of Bacon it must be remembered that the
age in which he lived (1561-1626) was remarkable
rather for ostentatious display than for good taste, —

CRUSADE AGAINST TOPIARY 23

as we count good taste, — and consequently his horti-
cultural purview was limited and obscured. As the
poet Mason puts it : —

" The age of tourney triumphs, and quaint masques,
Glar'd with fantastic pageantry, which dimm'd
The sober eye of truth, and dazzled ev'n
The sage himself; witness the high arch'd hedge,
In pillar'd state by carpentry upborne,
With coloured mirrors deck'd, and prison'd birds."

Bacon was in many things far in advance of the
Tudor times in which he lived, so far indeed, in respect
of our present subject, that no outstanding protest
against Topiary appears to have been made by those
who endeavoured to promote sound public taste, until
nearly another century had elapsed. Then the literary
genius of Addison was directed against the evils and
extravagances of his age.

ADDISON AND POPE

" Addison,

Thou polished sage, or shall I call thee bard,
I see thee come : around thy temples play
The lambent flames of humour, bright'ning mild
Thy judgment into smiles ; gracious thou com'st
With Satire at thy side, who checks her frown,
But not her secret sting." — Mason.

"With bolder rage

Pope next advances ; his indignant arm
Waves the poetic brand o'er Timon's shades,
And lights them to destruction ; the fierce blaze
Sweeps through each kindred vista, groves to groves
Nod their fraternal farewell and expire." — Mason.

ALTHOUGH Addison and Pope were contemporaries it
was the former who led the crusade against formal
gardening in general and the art of Topiary in particu-
lar. Less satirical than his one-time friend, Addison
nevertheless pointed out with remarkable clearness that
the gardens of the early part of the eighteenth century
were not nearly so beautiful as they might have been,
owing to the excessive use of clipped trees and the
extreme care which the gardeners of that time took to
secure the utmost regularity in their planting and
uniformity in design.

Addison was counted one of the most brilliant of the
Essayists of his time, and among the numerous con-
tributions made by him to the Spectator is a lengthy one
" On the Pleasures of the Imagination." This took the
form of eleven Papers, or epistles, published in regular
order from June 21, to July 3, 1712. It is in the
fourth paper that he deals more particularly with

YEW TREE WITH BIRD

ADDISON AND POPE 25

gardens and therein he shows that the works of nature
are more pleasant to the imagination than are those of
art, and that the works of art are most pleasing the
more closely they resemble those of nature. He does
not openly denounce Topiary and other formal garden-
ing, but with subtle skill contrasts it with a picture of
a more natural style, and does so in a manner that
enforces the beauty of the latter and indicates the origin
of that taste in landscape gardening which many a
gardener of the nineteenth century thought was
peculiarly his own.

"We have observed," says Addison, "that there is
generally in nature something more grand and august
than what we meet with in the curiosities of art. When,
therefore, we see this imitated in any measure, it gives
us a nobler and more exalted kind of pleaure than what
we receive from the nicer and more accurate productions
of art. On this account our English gardens are not so
entertaining to the fancy as those in France and Italy,
where we see a large extent of ground covered over
with an agreeable mixture of garden and forest, which
represent everywhere an artificial rudeness, much more
charming than that neatness and elegancy which we meet
with in those of our own country. It might indeed be
of ill consequence to the public, as well as unprofitable
to private persons, to alienate so much ground from
pasturage and the plough, in many parts of a country
that is so well peopled, and cultivated to a far greater
advantage. But why may not a whole estate be thrown
into a kind of garden by frequent plantations, that may
turn as much to the profit as the pleasure of the owner ?
A marsh overgrown with willows, or a mountain shaded
with oaks, are not only more beautiful, but more bene-
ficial, than when they lie bare and unadorned. Fields
of corn make a pleasant prospect •, and if the walks were
a little taken care of that lie between them, if the natural

26 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

embroidery of the meadows were helped and improved
by some small additions of art and the several rows of
edges set off by trees and flowers that the soil was
capable of receiving, a man might make a pretty land-
scape of his own possessions."

Continuing, the Essayist adds: "Writers who have
given us an account of China tell us the inhabitants of
that country laugh at the plantations of our Europeans,
which are laid out by the rule and line ; because they
say, anyone may place trees in equal rows and uniform
figures. They choose rather to show a genius in works
of this nature, and therefore always conceal the art by
which they direct themselves. They have a word, it
seems, in their language, by which they express the
particular beauty of a plantation that thus strikes the
imagination at first sight, without discovering what it
is that has so agreeable an effect. Our British gardeners,
on the contrary, instead of humouring nature, Jove to
deviate from it as much as possible. Our trees rise in
cones, globes, and pyramids. We see the marks of the
scissors upon every plant and bush. I do not know
whether I am singular in my opinion, but for my own
part, I would rather look upon a tree in all its luxuriancy
and diffusion of boughs and branches, than when it is
thus cut and trimmed into a mathematical figure ; and
cannot but fancy that an orchard in flower looks infinitely
more delightful than all the little labyrinths of the most
finished parterre. But, as our great modellers of gardens
have their magazines of plants to dispose of, it is very
natural for them to tear up all the beautiful plantations
of fruit-trees, and contrive a plan that may most turn to
their own profit, in taking off their evergreens, and the
like movable plants, with which their shops are plenti-
fully stocked."

It will be perfectly obvious that when Addison found
it necessary to draw comparisons between a free and

ADDISON AND POPE 27

natural style of gardening, and the artificial methods
carried out with mathematical precision in his time, to
the distinct advantage of the former system, that
geometric gardening, coupled with the excessive use of
Topiary work, had made English gardens dreadfully
monotonous. Essays were fashionable in the early
years of the eighteenth century, and, remembering that
their publication was extended over a considerable
period, it must be presumed that they were freely read
and discussed, and thus exerted a very considerable
influence upon public opinion, just as a well thought
out and carefully written leading article does in our own
time. We may take it, then, that the gardeners of his
time were considerably impressed by Addison's quiet
denunciation of the existing style, and no doubt a
revolution had already commenced in the minds, if not
in the gardens, of the wealthy, when, a little more than
a year later, Pope published in the Guardian (Tuesday,
September 29, 1713), his famous essay on "Verdant
Sculpture."

Not so subtle in his irony nor so engaging in his
literary style as Addison, Pope was however the more
forcibly satirical, maliciously spiteful, and elfishly
humorous. His keen wit seized upon the proper
psychological moment for following up Addison's com-
paratively mild exposure with an attack that did as
much as, or more than, anything else to bring about
that rapid decline of Topiarian art that quickly followed.
Pope had evidently the genius of a great soldier, who
delivers his fiercest attack when the enemy is wavering.

As Pope's essay is not by any means well known,
neither is it especially easy of access, I need not apologise
for quoting freely from it. Pope, however, believed
with Dryden that satire was —

"The boldest way, if not the best,
To tell men freely of their foulest faults,
To laugh at their vain deeds and vainer thoughts,"

28 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

and in the course of his essay he allowed his sarcastic
mockery to find expression here and there in a manner
common enough in his time but which would be likely
to offend the ears of modern polite folk, consequently I
have in a few instances forestalled the editorial blue-
pencil.

"I lately," writes Pope, "took a particular friend
of mine to my house in the country, not without some
apprehension that it could afford little entertainment to
a man of his polite taste, particularly in architecture and
gardening, who had so long been conversant with all
that is beautiful and great in either. But it was a
pleasant surprise to me, to hear him often declare, he
had found in my little retirement that beauty which he
always thought wanting in most of the celebrated seats,
or, if you will, villas, of the nation. This he described
to me in those verses, with which Martial begins one of
his epigrams :

"< Our friend Faustinas' country seat I've seen :
No myrtles, placed in rows, and idly green,
No widow'd plantain, nor clipp'd box-tree, there
The useless soil unprofitably share ;
But simple nature's hand, with nobler grace,
Diffuses artless beauties o'er the place.'

" There is certainly something in the amiable simpli-
city of unadorned nature, that spreads over the mind a
more noble sort of tranquillity, and a loftier sensation of
pleasure, than can be raised from the nicer scenes of
art."

After a reference to Homer's account of the Garden
of Alcinous, and Sir William Temple's remarks upon it,
Pope proceeds : " How contrary to this simplicity is
the modern practice of gardening ! We seem to make
it our study to recede from Nature, not only in the
various tonsure of greens into the most regular and
formal shapes, but even in monstrous attempts beyond

ADDISON AND POPE 29

the reach of the art itself. We run into sculpture, and
are yet better pleased to have our trees in the most
awkward figures of men and animals, than in the most
regular of their own.

" ' Here interwoven branches form a wall,
And from the living fence green turrets rise ;
There ships of myrtle sail in seas of box ;
A green encampment yonder meets the eye,
And loaded citrons bearing shields and spears.'

" I believe it is no wrong observation, that persons of
genius, and those who are most capable of Art, are
always most fond of Nature : as such are chiefly sensible,
that all art consists in the imitation and study of nature.
On the contrary, people of the common level of under-
standing are principally delighted with the little niceties
and fantastical operations of Art, and constantly think
that finest which is the least natural. A citizen is no
sooner proprietor of a couple of yews, but he entertains
thoughts of erecting them into giants, like those of the
Guildhall. I know an eminent cook, who beautified his
country seat with a coronation dinner in greens ; where
you see the champion flourishing on horseback at one
end of the table, and the queen in perpetual youth at
the other."

" For the benefit of all my loving countrymen of this
curious taste, I shall here publish a catalogue of greens
to be disposed of by an eminent town gardener, who
has lately applied to me upon this head. He repre-
sents, that for the advancement of a polite sort of
ornament in the villas and gardens adjacent to this great
city, and in order to distinguish those places from the
mere barbarous countries of gross Nature, the world
stands much in need of a virtuoso gardener who has a
turn to sculpture, and is thereby capable of improving
upon the ancients of his profession in the imagery
of evergreens. My correspondent is arrived to such

30 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

perfection, that he cuts family-pieces of men, women,
or children. Any ladies that please may have their
own effigies in myrtle, or their husband's in horn-beam.
He is a puritan wag, and never fails when he shows his
garden, to repeat that passage in the Psalms, "Thy
wife shall be as a fruitful vine, and thy children as
olive-branches round thy table." I shall proceed to his
catalogue, as he sent it for my recommendation.

" Adam and Eve in yew ; Adam a little shattered by
the fall of the tree of knowledge in the great storm :
Eve and the serpent very flourishing."

"The tower of Babel, not yet finished."

" St George in box ; his arm scarce long enough,
but will be in condition to stick the dragon by next
April."

" A green dragon of the same, with a tail of ground-
ivy for the present. N.B. These two not to be sold
separately."

"Edward the Black Prince in cypress."

" A laurestine bear in blossom, with a juniper hunter
in berries."

" A pair of giants, stunted, to be sold cheap."

" A Queen Elizabeth in phylyrea, a little inclining
to the green sickness, but of full growth."

" A topping Ben Jonson in laurel."

" Divers eminent modern poets in bays, somewhat
blighted, to be disposed of, a pennyworth."

" A quickset hog, shot up into a porcupine, by its
being forgot a week in rainy weather."

" A lavender pig, with sage growing in his belly."

" Noah's ark in holly, standing on the mount ; the
ribs a little damaged for want of water."

Such was the crusade against Topiary ; in its train
came swift destruction. Bridgeman and Kent were the
landscape gardeners who, influenced by the writings
of their time and desirous of instituting a new order

QUEEN ELIZABETH'S CROWN AND JUG, ELVASTON CASTLE

ADDISON AND POPE 31

of things, brought about the great change in garden
design. They not only cleared away the sculptured
trees but destroyed splendid, close hedges as well,
throwing open to all eyes, and to all the winds,
gardens that had hitherto been delightfully enclosed
and secluded. Of Bridgeman there is very little in-
formation forthcoming, but Loudon tells us " He
banished verdant sculpture and introduced morsels of
a forest appearance in the gardens at Richmond." Kent
was a versatile Yorkshireman, who was successively
painter, architect and landscape gardener ; Claremont,
Esher, laid out about 1725-1735, was one of his designs.
He was the friend of Lord Burlington and, even more
than Bridgeman, he carried into effect the ideas of Pope.
The great successor to Kent was Brown, who was head
gardener at Stowe till 1750, and subsequently, after
being employed by the Duke of Grafton, he was head
gardener at Hampton Court and Windsor. At this
time he became very much in request as a landscape
gardener, and so continued well on towards the end
of the eighteenth century. His sympathy with Topiary
may be gathered from the remark made by Sir Wm.
Chambers in 1772, that "unless the mania were not
checked, in a few years longer there would not be
found three trees in a line from Land's End to the
Tweed." In the course of about fifty years, from 1740
to 1790, the gardens of England, with a few exceptions,
were completely altered, and the style that had been
in vogue for full one hundred and fifty years was
almost wholly obliterated. Later designers added
many improvements, and a more graceful style suc-
ceeded that of Kent and Brown, but Topiary as a part
of garden design was practically non-existent for about a
hundred years. Then commenced the modern revival
of the Art.

REVIVAL OF THE ART

" There is a tendency to restore some of the screens which formed
so 9haracteristic a feature of the Dutch style, with a view to obtain
a greater degree of privacy, and more shelter for both visitors and
plants. With this restoration of sheltering hedges and verdant belts
has evidently come a desire for examples of Topiary art, and already
there are several modern gardens where they are to be found firmly
established."— George Gordon, V.M.H.

" Topiary Work fell into disrepute in the nineteenth century,
owing to the persistence with which the more natural styles of
gardening came to the front, but even now this phase of ' gardening '
exercises a considerable fascination upon a large section of the public ;
witness the interest excited of late years by the exhibits of trimmed
trees which have appeared at the London shows." — Walter P. Wright.

NOTWITHSTANDING the wonderful alteration and im-
provement that have taken place in British gardens
since Kent began to make a clearance of Topiary work,
several notable collections survived the general slaughter
and these are to-day among the most interesting of
the varied forms of gardening seen in the country.
The gardens at Levens Hall and at Elvaston Castle may
be especially particularised in this connection, but for
the moment we will deal with the revival rather than
the survival of the art.

During the past twenty years the practice of
including at least a few specimens of clipped trees in
any new garden of pretensions has been steadily grow-
ing, and within the last ten years several Topiary gardens
of considerable extent have been laid out and planted.
These are chiefly in the large establishments of the
wealthy patrons of horticulture, and they are so situated
32

REVIVAL OF THE ART 33

that they are in harmony with formal surroundings, or
disposed where they form a distinct item of horticultural
interest and do not in any way mar the more natural
beauties of adjacent subjects.

Precisely why there has been a revival of this old
art I am not prepared to say. It must suffice that there
is such a revival, and a very distinct one, as any one
who visits gardens and exhibitions and nurseries
frequently will readily discover. At the leading
London and provincial exhibitions two old established
firms of nurserymen have frequently and extensively
exhibited examples of Topiary; these are Messrs
Wm. Cutbush & Son, Highgate, N., and Messrs J.
Cheal & Sons, Crawley, Sussex; and it may be
safely asserted that if there were no taste or demand
for clipped trees the respective proprietors would
not incur the necessarily heavy expense of displaying
this particular line of goods.

In the revival of Topiary in England no single person
has taken a deeper interest than Mr Herbert J. Cutbush,
and though his interest is confessedly a business one
it is none the less worthy of mention. For many years
Mr H. J. Cutbush has frequently visited Holland and
he has travelled through and through the little country
until he knows it, horticulturally, far better than even
many eminent Dutch nurserymen do. He discovered
that some of the best trained and best furnished
specimens of sculptured yew and box were to be found
in the farmhouse gardens, in small, almost unknown
villages, far from the usual routes of tourists and
business-men, and this led to still further explorations.
During the first years of the revival Mr H. J. Cutbush
crossed over to Holland nearly every week end making
himself acquainted with the farmers, and with the few
growers who regularly supplied the Dutch nursery
trade. He got to know where examples were being

c

34 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

steadily developed, securing options on these and
purchasing all that were well advanced. As already
hinted, the Dutch " Boomkmeckers," or nurserymen who
cultivate clipped trees as a special business, are by no
means a numerous class, they chiefly reside in the
Boskoop district.

Churches of box and peacocks of yew are not
imported without the expenditure of a good deal of
time and money, and obviously there is some risk in
removing large examples. One big tree that for sixty
years had been the chief ornament of a Dutch black-
smith's garden was only purchased after a whole day
spent in persuasion and the consumption of much
Schiedam, and after the purchase was made another
week was spent in lifting and packing and removing the
tree to the London steamer.

There is a great variety of form in the Dutch clipped
trees, but spires surmounted with birds seem to be
among the most common and are as easy to produce
as most. For these, and for the peacocks and the spiral
or serpentine columns, yew is almost invariably used.
Tables, with tops either circular, oval or square,
may be had in box or yew, and the leg of the
table may be plain or ornamented according to taste.
The arm-chairs in box have quite a comfortable and
inviting appearance. Sitting hens, geese, and ducks are
common designs, and to protect the verdant poultry one
may obtain equally verdant dogs, with or without
kennels, but though the mastiff may be of quite
ferocious mien he can be warranted not to bite ; more-
over he will require very little in the way of food and
the noise he makes will disturb no one.

Churches are quite common designs among topiarists,
but it is interesting to notice that seldom is there a
doorway provided, and obviously if there is no congrega-
tion there will be no collection taken. The churchyard

YKW TREK WITH BIRD— ANOTHER FOKM

REVIVAL OF THE ART 35

is also provided for, inasmuch as verdant tombstones
and Latin crosses are grown in considerable numbers,
and some of these would be vast improvements upon
many of the ugly head-stones and other memorials of
a more solid character that crowd our graveyards.
Pyramids, mop-heads, and blunt cones are among the
commonest designs ; they do not call for the exercise
of much ingenuity, but when these pyramidal trees are
cut into several regular and well graded tiers their cost
increases considerably. Another form of tree that
naturally suggests itself to the Dutch grower, who all
his life is used to water and boats, is that of a sailing
ship, or barge ; but these are not so easy to evolve from
either box or yew, and they call for a good deal of
training in addition to the cutting and clipping necessary
to keep them shapely. Thin wires and a few light
bamboo rods usually complete the training outfit
necessary, but taking the whole range of topiarian
design, training, in the sense of tying out, is not much
practised.

Compared with the designs enumerated in the
catalogue that Pope's fancy created, the modern list
of verdant sculptures is a very modest one. True we
may have Jugs and Beakers, Wreaths as well as Crosses,
and Swans as well as Peacocks, varying in price from
three guineas to ten guineas each, but the moderns do
not attempt to pourtray Adam and Eve, nor do they
caricature the poets and statesmen of the age, in living
box and yew.

Prices are governed chiefly by the size and age
(height and density), and the design of the specimen.
The yew tree being of slower growth than the box is,
size for size, the most expensive of the two, and well
furnished examples that have not exceeded marketable
size vary in age from twenty to sixty years. Even when
designed in box the birds are about ten or twelve years

36 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

old, dogs twelve to fourteen years, and taller designs
from fifteen to eighteen years. Some of the finer
examples found in the country districts of Holland need
to have their root system cut around one year, so that
they may be safely lifted, transported to this country
and transplanted in the following season.

It may very reasonably be asked, Where are to be
seen the signs of this modern revival of Topiary, apart
from horticultural exhibitions ? To that I make answer
by pointing to some establishments famous throughout
the land for their gardens. At Ascott, Mr Leopold de
Rothschild has a thoroughly well furnished and quite
modern Topiary Garden, and those who are disposed to
severely criticize the modern revival of an old garden
art must bear in mind that Mr Rothschild's gardens at
Gunnersbury and Ascott have been and are still being
referred to as fine examples of the most advanced and
tasteful style of natural and adapted gardening. An-
other example is to be found at Friar Park, Henley-on-
Thames, the residence of Mr Frank Crisp. This is a
comparatively new garden but it contains much that is
beautiful and a very great deal that is interesting, and
its collection of clipped trees is not the least interesting
feature of an establishment that also contains one of the
best collections of alpine plants in the Southern Counties.

If these are not sufficient answer to the question, I
hasten to add Witley Court, Stourport, the residence of
Lady Dudley ; and Danesfield, Marlow, the home of Mr
R. W. Hudson. Besides these there are numerous other
gardens throughout the land where Topiary, as a modern
development, occupies no mean position, the extent of
the collections of clipped trees being determined chiefly
by the space at disposal.

CLIPPED YEWS AT A COTTAGE ENTRANCE

THE FORMATION OF A TOPIARY
GARDEN

THE Topiary, Dutch, or Formal Garden, as it is some-
times called, belongs to a period long since gone by.
It is uncertain who was the first person to introduce the
formal garden into England, and it is doubtful whether
this style of gardening had its origin in Holland or in
France.

The present Gardens of Levens Hall were laid out
between the years 1701 and 1704; but it is pretty
certain that the art of Topiary gardening was practised
in England before the gardens at Levens were re-
modelled in that style.

Before the year 1704, Monsieur Beaumont, who had
been already employed by King James II. to lay out the
gardens of Hampton Court Palace, was engaged by
Colonel James Graham, at that time Treasurer to James
II., to introduce the art of Topiary work into his gardens
at Levens, and it is probable that these two places were
the first in this country in which the genuine art was
practised. Beaumont, it may be mentioned, was a pupil
of the famous Le Notre.

The laying out of any garden in which clipped trees
are intended to be the principal feature, is open to a
serious objection — the only objection, as I think, that
can reasonably be entertained against Topiary work. I
allude to the very great length of time it takes to bring
the Topiary Garden to perfection. It is certain that the
individual who takes both trouble and pains to lay out

37

38 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

his garden can never expect to see his work perfected ;
for, even in its natural state, the yew is an extremely
slow-growing tree, and when it is subjected to continual
clipping and pruning year after year, its growth is con-
siderably impeded.

But, even after allowing for this objection, I think it
is a style of gardening that should be more encouraged,
and, if possible, made more popular than it is at the
present time. I am fully aware that there are many
authorities in the gardening world who condemn the
Formal Garden as unnatural ; but I am certain that
there is a charm and a beauty of its own in Topiary
work not to be met with in the modern garden. No
doubt it would be a pity were every person's tastes to
be alike, and fortunately opinions differ in gardening as
in other matters.

We will suppose, however, that, notwithstanding the
objections I have named, some reader of mine has decided
to make for himself a Dutch, or Topiary Garden — for
both styles are practically the same.

The choosing of a situation, if a choice can be had, is
of primary importance. A place should be selected where
the trees to be planted can obtain the fullest possible
amount of sunlight. At the same time, it should be
completely sheltered from every wind that blows.

It must be remembered that although the yew is a
tree which will grow and flourish in almost any out-of-
the-way corner when left alone in its natural state, it is
quite a different matter when each individual tree in the
garden is intended to be as fine and as perfect a specimen
of Topiary work as it is possible to make it; and, like
everything else in a Topiary garden, a tree should be
trained as well as possible, or else let alone altogether.

It is very easy to perceive the great difference between
trees which have been planted partly or wholly in the
shade and those that have always enjoyed a full measure

FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN 39

of sunlight. There is a strong and vigorous growth
about the latter which is not to be found in those planted
in a shady spot. It may not always be practicable to
plant each tree in a garden where it will receive the full
benefit of the sun ; but it is an object which should ever
be kept in mind, and carried out as far as possible.

The yew is a tree which repays good treatment,
especially when year after year it is subject to clipping
and never suffered to grow in its natural state.

The situation chosen for a Topiary Garden should be
a hollow, or piece of ground slightly sunk below the
general level of the surrounding land. If this should
be impracticable, it would be advisable to make a terrace
on at least one side of the ground marked out for the
garden, preferably the north side, as a terrace on the
north side cannot interfere with the full benefit of the
sun, or obscure it from the trees in any way. There is
no place whence Topiary work is seen to greater advan-
tage than from a terrace, or, indeed, from any elevated
spot from which one can look down on the garden. A
terrace, in my opinion, has a double recommendation,
inasmuch as besides adding beauty to the garden it also
affords good shelter ; and shelter is a necessary con-
sideration. In fact it is of almost as much importance
to provide efficient shelter as it is to get the greatest
possible amount of sunlight, which I have always con-
sidered to be absolutely indispensable to the welfare
of the various species of trees planted in a Topiary garden.
Nothing is more injurious to the yew tree than strong
winds from whichever direction they may happen to blow,
and more especially are they hurtful if the garden be
situated near the sea. If such be the case, and the garden
be not well sheltered, the salt spray every now and then
blown up even several miles inland, has a very deleterious
effect on the trees. I have seen old and splendid speci-
mens of the yew disfigured for several years from this

40 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

cause alone ; and the older the tree the more damaging
is the effect. Whatever the kind of shelter provided, it
should be planted, or erected, in such a way as not to
obscure the general view of the garden.

Espaliers, with fruit-trees trained on them, were
formerly used to a great extent in Topiary gardens ;
but they are a kind of shelter little to be recommended,
as, though certainly not unsightly, and having the advan-
tage of being useful, they are somewhat out of place and
scarcely in keeping with other features of the garden.

Hardy flowering shrubs may always be planted.
They make a very good shelter, and are at the same
time ornamental, while they have the additional advan-
tage of being useful for cutting purposes.

But in close proximity to the garden, there is nothing
which affords more effectual shelter or is more in
harmony with its general character than hedges of yew
or horn-beam of about ten to twelve feet in height.
This, as a rule, is quite high enough to answer the
purpose of shelter ; if allowed to grow higher, the
strength and substance of a hedge is almost certain to
be sacrificed. This, of course, applies in a greater
degree to yew than to horn-beam.

Large timber trees, such as oak, lime, beech or
sycamore, cannot very well be planted within the
garden, though they may easily be so in the grounds,
or even outside them. They should not be planted
singly, but either in large clumps or thick enough to
form a wood which, in course of time, may afford
shelter to the whole garden.

The next thing requiring the attention of the Topiary
gardener, and one which must be considered in a special
degree, is the general formation of the garden. This
is a matter of vital importance, and, in common with all
branches of garden architecture, needs great forethought
and technical skill. In commencing a Dutch or Topiary

VARIOUSLY SHAJ'liU YEW TREES

A PEACOCK CUT IN YEW AT COMPTON WYNYATES

FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN 41

garden, everything should be laid out in a formal way ;
always, of course, taking care to avoid unnecessary stiff-
ness in design.

In the carrying out of the Topiary work, Man is
striving to a very great extent against Nature, and
Nature is never an easy adversary to fight. Natural
beauty, therefore, must not be considered too deeply in
the formal laying out of a Topiary garden. I am far
from wishing to imply that Nature should be entirely
neglected ; but in the general formation and practical
management of a Topiary garden, a quaint and unique
appearance is the thing that must be aimed at, and some-
times even a grotesque effect. Hence Nature must
occasionally be relegated to a secondary position.
Natural beauties, however, appeal to everybody, and
if it can be found possible to combine the two, so much
the better.

If it is intended to lay out a garden in which plenty
of space can be allowed for planting, let us say, a
hundred or more trees, a large piece of ground will be
found to be necessary. It is always advisable to devote
plenty of ground to the work, as it is a great mistake
to plant the trees too close together. Although the
trees when in a small state may not appear to be
crowded, if sufficient space has not been allowed for
their growth and development, the garden will after-
wards present a cramped and heavy appearance which
will greatly mar its general effect as times goes on.

The system of planting entirely in grass is not, I
think, to be greatly recommended, although a few
single trees planted here and there on the lawns may
look well. For various reasons which shall be explained
hereafter, I believe it to be better to combine the
Topiary proper and the flower-garden.

When it has been decided how many trees it is in-
tended to plant, and how much space is available for

42 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

the work, the ground should be mapped out in six or
eight large squares or quarters. These squares need
not be all of one uniform size, or of exactly the same
shape. As a general rule, the person who is laying out
the garden will have to be guided by circumstances as
regards the shape and size of these divisions.

There are so many different designs of garden archi-
tecture that it is of very little use trying to describe any
particular form. I would recommend, however, that the
design chosen be as simple a one as possible. The
flower-beds should be made of rather a large size, and
afterwards may be planted with roses, and herbaceous
and bedding plants ; they will also serve the additional
purpose of containing the clipped trees. I do not, of
course, mean that all the beds should be of uniform size
or shape ; but the beds in which trees are to be planted
should be from twenty-five to forty feet in length, and
from five to seven feet wide. A bed of these dimensions
will be found to answer all purposes fairly well, what-
ever be the design adopted, and whatever shape may be
given to the beds themselves.

All the paths, with the exception of the main walks
between the quarters or divisions, should be grass ; and
those main walks should have a substratum of some
hard material and be covered on the surface with loose
gravel. Some objection may be raised to grass walks
as being of an unserviceable nature for general garden
work ; but, if the main walks are made as suggested,
the amount of work and trampling on the grass paths
will be reduced to very small proportions, and even
when necessary to do any heavy work over the latter,
such as wheeling manure or other traffic of a similar
nature, dry or frosty weather can usually be chosen as
the most convenient moment.

In making the flower-beds, box should always be used
for edging ; never stones or ornamental tiles, as any-

FORMATION OF A TOPIARY GARDEN 43

thing of this description is altogether out of keeping
with the general features of a Topiary garden. There
may be a slight objection to box edging on account of
the difficulty of getting it to grow well in certain soils.
Generally speaking, I have never had the slightest
difficulty in getting it to flourish and remain in a healthy
condition, provided it gets proper treatment. I have
some boxwood at Levens which has not been relaid for
nearly, if not quite, a hundred years ; and yet it is in a
strong, healthy state.

When the portion of the garden intended to be
devoted to Topiary gardening has been laid out, attention
should be given to the other portion of the grounds ;
and, as none of the old formal gardens were considered
to be complete without a bowling-green and hedges of
yew, horn-beam, or holly, a bowling-green should be
made and then enclosed by one or another of these
species of hedge.

Any additional space not required for lawns or
terraces should be made into fruit and vegetable
quarters. If it can be found convenient to have the
vegetable garden separate from the other, so much the
better ; as any space not absolutely required may then
be utilised for fruit trees only. Old apple trees, with
their gnarled stems and branches, with here and there a
branch of mistletoe hanging among them, are picturesque
objects enough among any surroundings.

In the grounds, as well as in the garden, grass walks
should predominate between the hedges, and in the
quarters devoted to fruit trees and vegetables. Indeed,
wherever a path or walk is necessary, it should be
grassed, if possible.

PLANTING AND MANURING

BEFORE planting operations are taken in hand, the beds
should first be thoroughly prepared, and made ready
for the reception of the trees. As with everything else
connected with the management of a garden, a good
beginning, followed by careful attention and proper
treatment, generally means a successful result. Although
the yew is a gross feeding tree, it will thrive fairly
well in almost any poor soil ; but it is advisable only to
plant in a soil of a nature that will, as far as possible,
suit the requirements of the various trees it is intended
to carry. Everything that can be done at this period to
ensure the future success of the garden should be care-
fully attended to.

It must be borne in mind that a Topiary garden when
completed will in all probability endure for an indefinite
length of time — perhaps for hundreds of years. Any
extra labour or expense devoted to the work of initiation
will, therefore, be fully repaid in the future.

If the land that has been selected for the garden is
composed of loam of a rich, mellow nature, all that is
necessary will be to trench the ground two or three
" spits " deep. If the soil is of a limestone composition
it will be to the advantage of the yew trees, as these
seem to grow well and vigorously in a soil of this kind.
But if, on the other hand, the soil be of a poor, hungry
nature, it will be advisable to remove it altogether, to
the depth of two or three feet, replacing it with good
loam of a more suitable character.

Nothing will answer this purpose better than the top

COTTAGE AT DITCHEAT, SOMERSET

PLANTING AND MANURING 45

"spit" off old pasture or meadow land. The top
" spit " only should be used, and this should not be
removed to a greater depth than five or six inches.
Turf taken off at this depth will generally contain all
that is best in the soil of either pasture or meadow land.

Although not absolutely necessary, it will be found
advantageous if the loam be obtained six or eight
months previous to the time when it will be required
for use. It should be removed from the fields, and
carefully stacked, in order to kill the grass and partially
decay the turf. Partially decayed loam is in all respects
better than that which has just been procured from the
fields. The trees make better roots in it, and it is
also easier to chop with the spade — a thing which will
be found necessary to do before it can be put on the
beds. The grass has also to be considered ; and unless
this is covered by a good depth of ordinary garden soil,
it will prove exceedingly troublesome during at least
the first year after planting. Of course, if the garden
be a large one, and operations can be carried out on
a large scale, the removal of the old soil and replace-
ment by other and more suitable loam will entail a
considerable amount both of labour and expense. But,
as I have before observed, nothing should be left
undone at this period of the work that will help to
ensure its future success.

There is, however, another and more simple method
of replacing the soil, and one which may answer the
purpose equally well. After the beds have been made,
the places may be marked out where it is intended to
plant the trees. The soil may then be removed and a
hole made of from four to five feet in diameter and from
two to three feet in depth, according to the size of the
tree it is proposed to plant. By following this method
the labour and cost of removing the entire soil from the
beds and replacing it with new loam will be to a great

46 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

extent reduced, and results obtained which should be
almost, if not quite as satisfactory. The remaining soil
left in the beds, no matter how poor it may be, can soon
be made rich enough for either herbaceous or bedding
plants by a liberal use of manure.

When the beds have been prepared for the reception
of the trees, planting should be at once proceeded with,
provided, of course, that the planting season be at hand.
Like all other forms of tree-planting, it should be done
as soon as possible after the proper time arrives ; or, to
be more explicit, from the middle of October to the
middle of November.

Although the work of lifting and transplanting yew
trees and box can be carried on with perfect safety up
to the end of the year or even up to the end of January,
the earlier season is undoubtedly the better. The soil
has then more chance to get settled about the roots
before the advent of hard weather. I have seen yew
trees lifted and transplanted even in June, but do not
consider it to be by any means a suitable time for the
work, and it is not a practice to be recommended. If
left so late in the year as June, constant attention must
be paid to watering, else the result will be disastrous.

If the trees have been growing for a few years in a
reserve nursery-garden close at hand, they can be lifted
and replanted without undue exposure to the open air
or drying winds ; but if they have to be brought from
afar, and have had to undergo a long railway journey,
they are almost certain to be found on arrival to be dry
at the roots. In this case, they should be at once un-
packed and submerged in a tank of water for a few hours,
and then heeled into the ground as near as possible to
the place where planting is to be carried on, and after-
wards lifted and replanted as required.

No rank manure of any kind should be used either
mixed with the soil, or applied to the roots of the trees,

PLANTING AND MANURING 47

or the result will be injurious. If manure of any kind
be employed, nothing is better for the purpose than
coarse bones used in moderate quantities — about one
barrow load of bones to twenty or twenty-five barrows
of loam.

It will be necessary to exercise great skill and fore-
thought in arranging and planting the various trees
with which it is intended to adorn the garden. Every-
thing should be done to make the garden as unique, and
at the same time as bright and attractive as possible.
Now that such excellent varieties of golden yew are
obtainable, a fairly large number of these should be
planted. They should not, however, be allowed to
predominate over the common green yew ; but if a few
be planted, it will help to relieve the sombre appearance
of the ordinary English yew.

Box is another kind of tree that lends itself admir-
ably to Topiary work, and one that should not be
forgotten during the planting period, as a few of the
different varieties of box will greatly add to the general
effect. There are also the different varieties of holly
and golden privet ; but, as regards the former, unless
it is purely for the sake of contrast, which is admired
in all gardens, I should recommend its omission from
the list of trees to be planted, as it does not lend itself
to clipping. Its chief fault, however, is its untidy
nature, which causes it to be a nuisance in a garden.
It is perpetually shedding its leaves throughout the
summer, when every garden should be looking its
neatest.

No trees are more suitable for Topiary work than
the different varieties of yew and the boxwood, as
these are the most easily clipped and trained. Although
the yew is an exceedingly slow-growing tree, it will,
even with continual clipping, grow into a tree of large
dimensions ; and, if the whole garden has been planted

48 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

at one time, instead of adding trees at intervals of a few
years, there will be too much uniformity about it.
This should be avoided as far as possible, and if a few
box trees have been planted here and there, they will
help to break the evenness of the garden, since box can
be kept down to almost any size desired by the aid of
constant clipping.

When the work of marking out the places and
planting the trees is being done, avoid anything that
will afterwards have a tendency to over-crowding.
Allow plenty of space for each tree to develop into
whatever size or shape may be desired, and then have
plenty of space for each tree to be plainly and distinctly
seen. Trees that are too thickly planted never have
the same appearance as those that have been allowed
sufficient space ; neither is over-crowding beneficial.
It has a great tendency to draw the trees up too quickly,
at the expense of strong and robust growth.

When the planting operations are finished, each tree
should be given a good mulching of farmyard manure.
Nothing is more beneficial to the health and vigour of
the trees than half decayed manure from the farmyard,
applied as a mulching either to old or newly-planted
trees. It is the best stimulant that can be applied, as
it answers the two-fold purpose of imparting health and
vigour to the trees and protecting the roots from frost
during winter, although there is perhaps very little
danger of frost doing any damage to the roots of the
yew on account of its extreme hardiness. It is always
safer to protect trees that have been recently planted,
and the manure will certainly not be wasted.

If the garden is an old established one and full of
old trees, these will be greatly benefited by the aid of
occasional top dressings of some sort of manure, or the
trees will begin to show signs of deteriorating in course
of time. More especially will top dressing be necessary

CROSS IN YEW OVER THE GRAVE OF I.T. -GENERAL ARBUTHNOT, K.C.H., K.T.S.,
IN ST. BONIFACE CHURCHYARD, 15ONCHURCH, ISI.E OF WIGHT

PLANTING AND MANURING 49

if the ground or beds where the trees are planted is not
liberally manured every year. But if manure is liberally
applied, the necessity for top dressing the roots will
not be so great ; for the yew extends its roots for a
long distance and therefore absorbs a great deal of
whatever kind of manure is applied to the ground.
Although chemical manures may be used for the sake
of convenience, or lack of farmyard manure, they are
not strongly recommended. Of course if farmyard
manure cannot be obtained, then chemical manure of
some sort will have to be resorted to, but this will
not have the same desired effect in imparting vigour
to the trees. The principal objection to farmyard
manure arises on account of its unsightliness in the
garden ; but that can be remedied to a great extent
by removing a few inches of soil from the roots and
applying a layer of the manure, and afterwards replacing
the soil. Liquid manure of any kind will be of the
greatest benefit to old trees, and there is no doubt that
chemical manure if applied to the roots at all, should
be given in liquid form during spring or summer, when
the weather is dry. It will greatly assist the trees in
making good growth.

The clipped yew is of such a close nature that it
takes very heavy rains to penetrate the roots.

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES

IT is perhaps when the work of clipping and training
the trees begins, that the most difficult part of the
practical management of a Topiary garden is experienced ;
but as in this chapter I intend to deal only with old
trees, I will leave the training and shaping of young
trees to be described in another chapter.

It is a matter that requires both skill and experience,
both on the part of the man who is handling the shears,
and of the gardener who is superintending, and who is
also responsible for the work. There is nothing which
looks worse in a garden than trees not properly clipped,
and no clipped work can be called properly done if all
or even any shear marks are visible to the eye. Clipping
and training of trees in a Topiary garden is work that
should either be done properly or else not at all. If the
greatest possible amount of care is not bestowed on the
trees, they will very soon grow out of shape, and, of
course, become unsightly ; and nothing is wanted in a
garden that is not pleasing to the eye.

If the garden is a very extensive one and contains a
large number of old specimen trees, the work of clipping
them and cleaning up afterwards is an undertaking that
requires a great deal of time and labour, as the work is
not of a nature that will allow men to hurry over it,
and it is moreover a labour of skill and patience.

In an old Formal Garden, where Topiary work is
considered the principal feature, it is advisable to allow
only men who are thoroughly experienced in the work
to do the clipping. In fact, if the shape and symmetrical

5°

YEWS AT MONTACUTE, SOMERSET

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 51

appearance of the trees are to be kept as nearly as
possible perfect, experienced men are necessary. Of
course, in any garden it will sometimes happen that the
gardener may have to put] a novice to do some part of
the clipping, as fortunate indeed is the gardener in
charge of a Topiary garden who can rely year after year
on three or four men who are thoroughly trained and
accustomed to the art of Topiary clipping. When it is
found necessary to employ a person to do any part of the
clipping who has not had any previous experience, he
should only be allowed to begin on trees of the least
importance, and those most concealed from view. The
beginner will always find that a round or oval shaped
tree is a great deal less difficult to work upon than a
square one, or a hedge. Therefore, if possible, he should
be allowed to get his hand in on round trees. It is
always a wise plan when a novice is learning the work,
to have a thoroughly experienced person working close
at hand — but not on the same tree — to assist him and
see that as few mistakes as possible are made. No
hard and fast line can be drawn as to the exact date
when the clipping season should begin, but it should be
as soon as possible after the trees have completed their
growth, as at that season the young shoots are soft, and
not so difficult to clip. In any case it should not be
later than the middle of September, especially if there is
a large amount of clipping to be done. If it can be
found convenient to start a fortnight or three weeks
earlier, so much the better. More especially does this
apply to beech or horn-beam, as they finish their growth
sooner than the yew, and if they are not clipped immedi-
ately, the young shoots get hard and, of course, are more
difficult to manage. Where there is enough clipping to
keep three or four men at work for nine or ten weeks,
the sooner the work is commenced after September comes
in the better, as it enables the work to be got through

52 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

before the severe frosts of winter set in. When the
trees are of a large size — a thing that is generally the
case in old gardens — scaffolding of some sort will be
necessary, and for this purpose there is nothing better
than trestles made to close up into as little space as
possible, for the double purpose of storing them away in
winter or at any time they are not required for use, and
for the sake of convenience in carrying them about the
garden. The trestles should be made in at least three
different sizes, two of each size, or more if necessary.
These, with the aid of a single plank laid across two
equal sized trestles, will generally suffice for the work.
Of course, the plank that is used must be strong enough
to carry a man, and wide enough to give him plenty of
standing room.

If the trees are old and practically perfected in shape,
the work of clipping is not such a difficult matter as
when the trees are in course of training. But it is
usually the case that although many of the trees are old
there are young ones coming on that have to be shaped.
In the case of old trees, as a general rule, all that is
required is to take off the year's growth ; clipping back
to the old growth of the previous year.

Hard clipping of old trees is a practice that should to
a certain extent be carried out, unless it is desired to
enlarge the size of the tree. If this is the case, from
one inch and a half to two inches of the year's growth
should be left on, but not more.

Altering the shape of old trees is a thing that should
be avoided as far as possible, especially if the trees are
well shaped and in a healthy condition. It sometimes
happens that one or more trees in the garden may have
been allowed through careless management or some
other cause to grow out of shape ; or perhaps an old
tree may be obscuring the view in some way or other.
In the case of such a thing happening, it will be

THE POST OFFICE, DITCHEAT, SOMERSET

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 53

necessary to use the pruning knife or saw rather
severely, both of which can be used with perfect safety
when they are in the hands of a person who thoroughly
understands the yew; provided, of course, he does not
go to extremes, the yew is a tree that will stand a
fair amount of rough treatment, and one that can be
twisted and cut into almost any shape desired.

I have seen old specimen trees that had grown out
of shape, or were, perhaps, shutting out the view in
some part of the garden, taken down and re-trained,
or cut down with the pruning saw, or knife, as the
case might be ; and yet in a very few years they had
quite recovered and grown into nice, well shaped trees,
full of vigour and well furnished with young growth.
Rather will the tree, if it is carefully managed, be im-
proved by the severe pruning it has been subjected to.

Of course, after an operation like the one I am de-
scribing, great care will have to be taken that every
use is made of the young growth, as the main object
to be kept in view is to get the tree well furnished
again in as little time as possible. There will be very
little, if any need for using the shears the first year
after the cutting back has been done ; but if the young
growth is at all rank, it should be carefully thinned
with an ordinary pruning knife, always taking care
that only the weaker shoots are removed, leaving the
stronger ones to grow for use another year, when
they can be tied in and cover up, as far as possible,
the old and bare wood. When tying young shoots,
tarred string will be found most suitable. It answers
the purpose very well and it is easier to tie than wire,
although it has a tendency to decay quickly through
being always exposed to the weather. In the case of
young shoots the pressure is not great and string will
generally last as long as the tie is required, as the
shoots soon become matted and interwoven together ;

54 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

but if a strong branch should happen to get displaced
in any way, the use of string as a tying material should
be avoided and copper wire should always be sub-
stituted in its place. In the case of an old branch the
pressure is greater, and whatever material has been used
in the work, it will as a rule be intended to last for
years. For the purpose of tree tying of any description
copper wire is to be recommended ; it has not the
same injurious effect on the trees as ordinary galvanised
wire ; but whatever is used, cork should always be
placed between the wire and the wood as a preventive
against cutting the tree.

When clipping an old tree that is a perfectly square
one, it is a good practice to use either a line or some
kind of straight edge. If the man who is doing the
work uses one or the other he can generally give the
tree a better and more finished appearance than if he
trusts to the eye only.

Perhaps of all the different kind of shapes there are
to clip in the Topiary garden, hedges require the most
skill and care, and only the most experienced men should
be allowed to undertake the work of clipping them.
Hedges in the garden are mostly planted in such a way
that their entire length is visible, and of course the most
casual observer can see at a glance whether they are
properly clipped or if there are any shear marks visible
on them. If the hedge is composed mostly of curves,
then of course the clipping is not such a difficult matter.
A long, straight hedge and one that is almost entirely
made up of curves, differ in the same respect with regard
to the ease with which they can be clipped, exactly in
the same way as a round or an oval tree. When clipping
a straight hedge a person should never trust entirely to
the eye, and lines should always be used ; and for the
purpose nothing is better than ordinary garden lines.

In the case of hedges that are cut into battlements

OI.U EXAMl'LE OF TOPIARY IN HOX AT COMPTON VVYNVATES

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 55

at the top, these should have a line stretched length-
ways along the ground, another along the base of the
battlements, and another along the top of the battle-
ments ; and whatever size and width the battlements
are, say, for instance, two feet high and two feet in width
between them, a stick cut exactly two feet in length
or a two-foot rule should be used to measure the exact
height and distance between the battlements ; and if
those precautions are taken, any person with a fair
knowledge of the art of clipping can hardly with ordinary
care and attention get wrong ; as, after all, the work of
clipping Topiary trees is not so difficult as might be
expected.

There are several points that should always be
remembered. Symmetry and shape are necessary to make
a good tree ; and this may be said to be the first and
most important factor in the work. Another point is to
take particular care that the shears do not cut off more
than is necessary. By that I mean, never to allow the
shears to cut deep enough into the tree to make a
hole. Another very important point to aim at is to give
the tree as smooth and even an appearance as possible
after the work is finished. I am perfectly aware that,
in a large collection of yews or other clipped trees, there
are always some that it is impossible to clip properly, on
account of weak growth, or some other cause. For
instance, trees that are growing in a part of the
garden where they are fully exposed to wind and storm
are almost certain to get into an unhealthy condition.
The growth becomes weak and stunted, or perhaps the
branches get worked out of place, or even die out
altogether. In the case of trees of that description, no
matter how much tying is done or how carefully they
are clipped, they can never be made to have the same
appearance as those that are full of young growth and
are in a healthy and vigorous state.

56 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

Where the garden has been planted with mixed
trees — such as yew, holly, boxwood and horn-beam,
the clipping should all be done in the autumn so as
to give the garden a tidy and uniform appearance.
Autumn is not generally considered the right season of
the year for holly clipping, but if there are some, more
or less, planted among the yews in the Topiary garden,
it is necessary that they should be clipped at the same
time as the other subjects, for the sake of appearance.
But if hollies are planted by themselves in some isolated
part of the garden, whether in hedges or bushes, the
work of clipping them should be carried out towards
the latter end of May or beginning of June ; then hard
clipping every other year will suffice for them. At
Levens we clip the holly hedges which are not actually
in the Topiary garden hard back to the old wood every
alternate year, and other years we merely go over them
with a pair of shears and cut away the long shoots. I
am rather of the opinion that hard clipping of hollies
every year is more injurious than beneficial to the trees.

It is evident to anyone who has seen an old Dutch or
Topiary garden, that, in the formation and laying out of
the grounds, boxwood has always been considered one
of the principal features, and in most of them it remains
so to this day.

Where box succeeds well and remains in perfect
health, no care or attention should be spared to keep it
so, for there is no edging that can be used in the garden
to be compared with it for beauty. It has, however,
some drawbacks, the principal one of which is the
excellent accommodation it affords to snails and other
garden pests ; but its advantages more than counter-
balance its defects. Like the hollies, every other year
is sufficient for clipping it, and there is no more suitable
month for the work than June. There should be no
clipping done to boxwood until all danger of frost is

MANAGEMENT OF OLD TREES 57

gone, as it is extremely dangerous to clip before that
period has passed. There is nothing more injurious to
newly clipped boxwood than sharp frosts. I have seen
boxwood that was over a hundred years old clipped in
April, with the result that a few sharp frosty nights
killed the whole of it.

Excepting during the clipping season, there is very
little work to be done to the trees in a Topiary garden,
unless it is top-dressing them with some sort of manure,
or keeping a look-out for branches that have become
loose through wind or some other cause. If this occurs,
the branches should be immediately tied back into their
places before any injury takes place to the tree.

There is another danger that should be strictly
guarded against in winter, and that is, the danger the
trees undergo in the event of heavy falls of snow.
When the trees are old and large and in every way
adapted for carrying a heavy weight of snow, no time
should be lost in getting it removed as quickly as
possible ; the sooner the men get to work the better,
even before the snow has ceased if it is at all likely
to be a heavy fall. The labour of having to go over
the trees two or three times must not be considered if
they are to be saved from injury. It is much better
to keep constantly knocking the snow off with light
switches, than take the risk of having the trees crushed
out of shape and broken.

THE MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING
OF YOUNG TREES

IN my last chapter I dealt almost exclusively with the
management of old trees. In this chapter I intend to
devote the space principally to the treatment that will
have to be followed in the training and shaping of
young trees in the Topiary garden. I shall try to
give as clear and concise an idea as possible to those
who are contemplating laying out a garden, or who
may already have done so, in which Topiary work is
intended to be the main feature, although the training
and shaping of young trees does not belong entirely
to a garden in course of formation. Generally in
old gardens, trees will be found in the course of
being trained. If the garden has been laid out and
the trees carefully planted on the lines advised in a
previous chapter, a record should be carefully made as
to the exact date when each tree was planted and also
regarding the shape that each tree in the garden is
intended to represent when it is finished. A record
of that description, made at the period of the work,
will prove of great interest in after years, both to those
who own the garden and to others who are either
interested in it or may happen to visit it. A record
of the date of planting and the shapes that the trees
were originally meant to represent, seems to have been
a thing quite neglected during the formation of the old
Topiary gardens, which seems to me to be a very great

I
MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 59

To a great extent the general management of young
trees is altogether different from the management required
to be given to old trees ; inasmuch as the difficulties are
more numerous, and the care and attention necessary to
be bestowed on them more manifold. Our forefathers
with the greatest skill and care laid out and formed the
old established Topiary gardens of the present day, and
afterwards year by year trained and shaped the fine old
specimens of the Topiary art now to be seen in some of
the old gardens, so that when a person is walking
through one of these gardens, and examining the quaint
and curious shapes of the trees, he cannot fail to admire
them and to reflect upon the amount of skill and labour
that has been bestowed on them. It would be curious,
indeed, if he failed to pause, and consider the amount of
patience the gardeners of earlier years were endowed
with. In many respects the gardener of the present
time has the advantage in Topiary work at least
over his brother of one or two hundred years ago.
Whether the gardeners of the present day are more
skilled in that special art, is a question which I
am not prepared to answer •, but I am certain
that there is no mistaking the abilities of the old
gardeners in the art of training trees. The work they
have left behind them proves this beyond a doubt.
The gardener of the present day has more variety of
shapes to choose from, and a larger and more varied
selection of trees to work upon.

If the trees were a good size and well grown when
they were planted, the work of clipping and training
them may be commenced the following year, according
to the shape into which it is intended to form the tree.
It is not advisable that any clipping or training be done
to the trees the same autumn or winter that they are
planted. It should be deferred until the following
autumn, in order to allow of fresh root action taking

60 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

place. Some of the trees can be clipped into certain
shapes when they are quite small ; but for other shapes
a much larger tree is necessary to commence work upon.
It is a very wise policy to go to a little extra expense on
the original outlay of the trees, rather than buy small
trees that will be of no use whatever for the work for
which they are ultimately intended.

If the suggestion that I made in a previous chapter
has been acted upon, viz., the buying in of the re-
quired number of trees some years before the work
of making the garden is taken in hand, and bringing
them on in the home nursery beds until they have
become a suitable size, and until the time arrives when
they are required for planting in their permanent places
in the garden, the actual cost of the trees will be re-
duced to a minimum, and better and more suitable trees
secured than if they had been purchased direct from
some of the nurserymen.

Although no actual shaping need be done to them
until they are planted in their places in the garden
where they are to remain, a little pruning and regulat-
ing of the shoots may be carried out. If that is done,
it will be found to be a great advantage in adapting
the trees to their future work. The buying of young
trees from the nurserymen and growing them on
in nursery beds in the reserve garden, until they are
required for planting in the garden, is a system
regularly practised here, and one that is well worth a
trial.

To the person desirous of having a Topiary garden
there are two courses open. The first is, he can either
train and shape his own trees, or else he can purchase
from one or other of the nurserymen who make clipped
yews a speciality, a ready-made collection. Trees that
are clipped into all manner of shapes can now be pur-
chased from some of the nurserymen either at home

A VERDANT PEACOCK

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 61

or imported from the Continent. The system of buying
trees that are already shaped is an excellent way of
getting a Topiary garden made and furnished with
trees in the quickest possible time. But it is a plan
that is not to be universally recommended or practised.
In the first place, trees of that description generally
have the very great drawback of being very expensive.
Only those who have to deal with the training of
yews have any idea how much labour and care is
spent on a tree in shaping it into even the smallest
bird ; and it therefore stands to reason that the
time and labour nurserymen spend on clipping and
training Topiary trees, and preparing them for the
market, must be paid for by the purchaser. But
there is another, and perhaps an even greater objec-
tion in buying trees already trained. Surely the person
who loves his garden and takes a great personal interest
in Topiary work, would never think of planting it with
trees that have already been cut into shapes by other
hands. Although there is no question about the ex-
cellence of nursery trained trees, I would strongly re-
commend that the person who spends the time and
money in forming and laying out a Topiary garden,
should have the patience to undertake and carry through
the training of his own trees. A far greater source
of pleasure will be derived from watching your own
trees grow, and from seeing them clipped and trained
each year into the particular shape that it is intended
they should represent.

It has been very often said, and said with a great
deal of truth, that a person can with care and manage-
ment train the yew into almost any shape desired. Even
figures or letters are easy to form out of yew. In hand-
ling the yew, you have a kind of tree to work upon
that lends itself in the most convenient way to the work
of clipping and training into all the quaint and curious

62 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

shapes that are found in the Topiary gardens. The
adaptation of the tree for the work, and the ease with
which it can be twisted and bent into almost any
conceivable shape, places it far before any other for
the particular work I am describing. Therefore no
fear need be entertained that there will be any lack of
variety of shapes in the garden ; provided, of course,
that due care is exercised at the commencement of the
work, and that each individual tree is clipped and trained
to represent an entirely different design or figure, as
the case may be. As a matter of fact, in any garden
that contains, say, one hundred trees or even more,
out of all that number no two trees need be exactly
alike. Each can be made to represent an absolutely
different shape. Of course there is no reason, except
as a matter of taste, why each tree should be made to
represent quite a distinct shape from its neighbour.
It might be considered a better plan to plant the trees
in pairs, side by side, or on the opposite sides of a
walk, and then train and shape them into pairs re-
sembling each other in every way. Training in pairs
is an arrangement that might find favour with some,
and to a certain extent might be adopted with ad-
vantage in the garden, especially at the ends of paths.
If it is decided to clip some of the trees in pairs re-
sembling each other, they should be those that are
planted near the ends of the path, one on each side.
If there are two trees planted one on each side of
the path, the effect is better if they are clipped
into identically the same shape than would be the
case if they both represented something different.
But I think, on the whole, if there is anything to
choose between the two styles, the one tree one
shape style should have the preference, if only for
the sake of variety.

In the matter of shapes, it is no use trying to lay

SEAT AT THE PRIORY, GLASTONBURY

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 63

down a hard and fast rule, as every person who owns,
or intends to own, a Topiary garden, will almost to a
certainty please himself as to the designs into which he
will have his trees shaped. However, I will try to give
my readers some little idea of the different shapes it is
possible to make out of the yew tree. In the first
instance, almost any letter of the alphabet can, with
comparative ' ease, be represented ; and nearly all of
them can be done with a single tree, although in the
case of some letters, two or even three trees may
be required to form the letter as quickly as possible.
In the shaping of the letter A, for instance, two trees
will be necessary for the purpose. Suppose it is in-
tended to make a capital letter A. In the first place
select two well-furnished trees five or six feet in height,
and not more than nine inches in diameter at the base,
and plant them as already advised, four, five, or even six
feet apart, according to the size it is intended to make
the letter. One at least of the two trees should have
two leading shoots growing from it ; one to be trained
straight up to form the inside of the letter, and the other
to be trained across to form the middle of the letter.
But, if both trees are furnished with two leading shoots,
one of each can be trained across to form the cross part
of the letter. If two trees can be got, with two leading
shoots, as I pointed out, they will equalise the balance
of the letter better, and give a more even appearance to
the tree. In the case of the letter B, one tree only will
be required for the purpose, if the letter is intended to
be, say, eight or nine feet high. To be exact, we will
suppose it is intended to form the letter B, nine feet high.
The tree that is chosen for the purpose should have only
one single stem for half of the way up the tree. It
should then branch into three leaders or main shoots,
as from this point three branches or stems will be
required to make up the different portions of the letter.

64 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

The strongest or main stem of the tree should be made
use of to form the straight side of the letter. Then
utilise the two remaining stems in forming the two
halves of the B. The one that is growing in the most
suitable position for the purpose can be bent round to
form the top half ; while the other stem is made to do
the same in the case of the bottom part. In very much
the same way the letters C, D, E and F can be trained,
or even any letter of the alphabet. There is not a
single letter from A to Z that it is not possible to
train into shape ; some are perhaps more difficult than
others to do, but they can all be done, and well done,
if they are carefully handled. The principal thing to
remember is the selecting of trees that are most suitable
for the purpose. Always aim at finding trees with the
requisite number of shoots that will be required to form
the different parts of the letter it is intended to make.
If it is the intention of the Topiarist to form one or more
letters of the alphabet, trees for the purpose should if
possible be selected some years before being wanted,
and should be prepared for the work intended. Trees
that are so prepared beforehand will immediately they
are planted in the garden be in a fit condition to shape
into letters at once. If the trees are treated in this way,
it will in a marked degree do away with the necessity of
keeping the letters for several years in the garden in the
ugly first stages of formation. There must, of course,
be always a time when any tree that is being trained
looks unsightly to the person who is new to the art of
Topiary work. In the training of letters especially, it
will be found much safer, and certainly a great deal
easier, if iron frameworks are used. This certainly
simplifies the work to a great extent. By using a light
framework, a more equally proportioned letter can be
made than will be the case if the more rough and ready
method of using wooden supports be practised. Of

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 65

course it is quite possible to train almost any letter, and
succeed in making a fairly good job of it, with the aid
of a little assistance in the shape of a few wooden
supports, etc. But wood is never very satisfactory, for
this reason — that when it is used, it will have to be in
most cases green, in order to make it pliable and easy
to bend. Green wood has a tendency to decay very soon,
and the first strong winds that come will very likely
break the supports, and blow the whole thing to pieces,
or at least damage it so as to make it require to be re-
trained again. In the process of training yew or any
other tree into letters, the appearance of each letter will
be greatly improved if from one and a half to two feet
of stem be left between the ground and the commence-
ment of the letter. This stem should be afterwards
planted round with small boxwood trees, and clipped so
as to form a pedestal, which may be of any shape
desired. There are two ways or shapes into which
letters can be trained, either the round or the square.
The square way of training them is the one I would
strongly recommend to my readers, from an ornamental
point of view, but it is at the same time the most diffi-
cult method. As I explained in my last chapter,
anything with square edges is more difficult to clip
exactly right than a round object.

In the Topiary garden, the variety of shapes that it is
possible to train are so many and varied that I will only
give a few of those that can either be copied from the
old gardens, or formed from the Topiarist's own ideas.
In the first instance, there are the various shapes of the
figures required in the game of chess. Birds of any
description are easy to form into shape in either yew or
boxwood. When they are well trained and properly
shaped, nothing has a better appearance in the Topiary
garden than the various shapes of birds. The shaping of
animals is more difficult to manage ; but I have seen some

E

66 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

good specimens, notably a lion and crown, the Howard
crest, that we have got in the garden here at Levens.
Then there are the various other shapes that are to be
found in the old Topiary gardens, such as barristers'
wigs, Indian wigwams, summer-houses, helmets, busbys,
bottles of almost any description or size, umbrellas, hats
or spirals of various forms. These may be either trained
as single trees, or formed into arches. Among the
newer shapes that I have seen, which have recently
been introduced into the Topiary art, are yachts, boats,
jugs, etc. The different sizes and shapes of jugs are so
varied, that any person who fancies the training of them
in his garden need not lack variety of form, and they
are shapes that are, comparatively speaking, very easy to
train. There are also a great many very pretty shapes
that can be formed out of the yew or the boxwood tree
without being intended to represent anything in par-
ticular, further than that they are trained and shaped
simply as ornaments to help to add further to the
embellishment of the garden.

It is not my intention to try to explain the various
ways of training all the different shapes I have pointed
out. That in itself would require a chapter ; as the
different ways of training a yew or any other tree are so
numerous, to attain what is practically the same end,
that the person responsible for the work will have to be
guided greatly by circumstances and according to the
particular tree he has got to work upon. In every
Topiary garden there should be at least four or five
different arches of various designs. There are very
few things that are more effective in any garden than a
few well-trained arches, and in the Topiary garden, if
they are not more effective than in the modern garden,
they are at any rate more in keeping with the general
surroundings of the place. If it has been decided to
train several arches in the garden, each one should be

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 67

quite a different shape from its neighbour. There is
such a variety of different shapes to be seen in almost
any garden where arches are trained, that there is no
occasion for two arches in one garden to be similar
in design.

When the shapes have been carefully thought out,
let no time be lost in making a start on the clipping and
training of them, especially if the trees are far enough
advanced in growth to begin work on. It is simply
loss of time to allow the trees to keep growing, year
after year, when they might be having some training
done to advantage towards the clipping and shaping of
them. It is a very great mistake to allow young trees
to grow for several years after they are large enough
to be fit for training. As soon as ever a tree is large
enough to begin work on according to the shape the tree
is intended to be, a start should be made, or else it will
be found when the work is begun, that some branches
that have taken three or four years to grow will have
to be cut away altogether, after serving no other purpose
than exhausting in an unnecessary manner the strength
of the tree; whereas if the tree had been clipped
sooner, these branches could have been utilised in
forming its various parts, or else removed from the
tree.

In the making of a Topiary garden, nothing should be
done to the trees in a hurry ; but on the other hand, no
more time should be lost than can possibly be avoided in
hastening on the work of shaping, and in getting the
garden furnished in the quickest possible time. No
young shoots or branches should be cut away that can
possibly be used in the construction of the various shapes ;
but in the training of young trees special care should be
given to them, and particular notice taken that they are
not allowed to make too rapid growth. In a very few
years trees will be injured to a great extent through being

68 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

allowed to grow too quickly. More especially does this
apply to hedges. No matter how much it is desired to
get a hedge quickly grown in a certain place, whether
for shelter or anything else, it is the greatest possible
mistake to sacrifice strength and substance to a desire to
promote rapid growth, a result that is certain to occur if
a hedge is allowed to grow eight or ten feet before it is
stopped. Nothing should be done to a hedge in the way
of clipping the same autumn or winter it is planted, and
perhaps not even the following autumn ; but each year
afterwards it should be stopped, and never allowed to
make more than three or four inches of growth each year.
By following the system of stopping the growth every
year, the length of time required to grow a hedge eight
or ten feet in height is greatly extended. But the result
will amply repay the extra time that has been taken to
grow it ; you will get a hedge full of strength and sub-
stance, and well furnished with young growths from top
to bottom. But if the other system is followed of allow-
ing the hedge to get to its full height before any clipping
is done, you will have a hedge that is lacking in strength
and substance, easily blown out of shape by every wind,
and also one that it is very difficult to clip in anything
like a proper way, on account of its many strong branches
growing towards the outside, that should have been re-
moved to make room for a thicker growth. Each year
when the work of clipping is being done, a sharp look-
out should be kept for all small branches or shoots that
are inclined to grow towards the outside of the tree or
hedge, and these must be removed whenever they are
seen. In equal force does this apply to both hedges and
trees, and it is a part of the work in a Topiary garden
which if not carefully attended to, will very soon cause
a great deal of harm. Those shoots in the course of a
few years will grow into strong branches, and become a
regular nuisance in the way of keeping them constantly

ARM-CHAIR IN I5OX AT COMPTON WYNYATES

MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG TREES 69

tied in ; and eventually it is possible that they will have
to be removed altogether, as it is not always easy to keep
branches of that description tied back within the general
level of the hedge. Nothing, moreover, gives a worse
appearance to a hedge or tree than one of these bare
branches projecting beyond the general level, perhaps
entirely devoid of young growth. In the case of one of
these branches that I have described having been allowed
to grow for some years, and then found necessary to be
removed by being cut out altogether, the disfigurement
that will be caused to the hedge or tree will be very
apparent for some years afterwards ; whereas, if such
branches had been removed each year as they made
their appearance, no disfigurement would have resulted
through their removal ; rather would the growth be
improved to a great extent, inasmuch as, where each
shoot or branch is cut off a number of young growths
will break away, which will help to give the hedge
a firm and compact appearance, a thing that is greatly
to be desired in all clipped hedges or trees. For
the general work of clipping and training trees in the
Topiary garden, I would strongly recommend that the
old-fashioned shears be used. There are several
different makes of clipping shears to be got now. Some
of them have been given a trial here ; but for general
purposes they were not found to be very well suited to
the work. There are exceptions, of course, where they
might be used with advantage, as, for instance, in the
case of a privet hedge, where the surface is smooth and
even and the growth soft and easily cut. But for all
general purposes, the old style of shears is the best. It
is very often the case that in the work of clipping a well
trained tree, it is necessary to cut the growths off one
by one, and it is in a similar instance that the old-
fashioned shears with their sharp points have the ad-
vantage over the newer make of machine.

THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF A
TOPIARY GARDEN

IN previous chapters I have dealt almost entirely with
the general formation of a Topiary garden ; the soils
and manures that are most suitable for the cultivation
and welfare of the yew ; and I tried to give my readers
some idea of the general treatment required in the
management of both old and young trees. In this
chapter it is my intention to explain, as clearly as
possible, the yearly management of a Topiary garden.

The general routine of work in the Formal or Dutch
garden is very much the same as in any other garden,
with, of course, the exception of the clipping and training
of the trees. That in itself adds a very great amount
of extra labour to the general work. But fortunately it
is work that requires to be done at the slackest time
of the year for gardening, viz., the autumn.

If the garden is an old established one, the arranging
and planting of the different beds will have been carried
out many years previous, very possibly at the time the
trees were planted, at the foundation of the garden,
although there is no doubt they will have been subject
to many alterations during the years that have elapsed
since the time when the garden was first formed. But
in this chapter it is with the planting and arranging of
the various flowering plants in the beds of a garden
that has been laid out on the principle recommended in
an earlier chapter of this work — on the formation of the
Topiary garden — that I intend chiefly to deal with.

THE COTTAGER'S PRIDE

MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 71

The planting of the beds and their various contents
is in the Topiary garden a very important part of the
work, and one that requires both a great amount of skill
and forethought, as to a great extent on the arranging
of the various kinds of flowering plants in the different
beds will depend the future beauty of the garden.
Of course I do not mean to imply that the arrangement
of the various beds is of as much importance as the
planting of the trees, as they differ in this respect so
far, that once the trees in a Topiary garden are planted,
they should under no circumstances whatever be
altered-, but in the case of the beds, they may be
subject to many alterations, as circumstances may occur.
The yew by itself is not a very bright or attractive tree,
but when you see it planted in the Topiary garden and
clipped into all kinds of unique shapes and figures, and
all the available space in the beds is utilised for the
purpose of massing either herbaceous or bedding plants,
the effect is extremely beautiful ; it is then that one
sees a garden with a charm and beauty about it that is
very seldom if ever met with in the more modern
garden.

It is quite evident that, in most of the old formal
gardens, glass accommodation has never to any great
extent been considered necessary. Yet there is nothing
of more importance to the gardener in charge of a large
Topiary garden than plenty of glass accommodation for
storing the various bedding plants during winter and
spring. In former years both the persons who owned
the Topiary gardens, and the gardeners as well, seem
to have depended to a great extent on the different
varieties of annuals for the embellishment of their
gardens. But annuals in a garden such as the one I am
speaking of, never have the same effect among the yews
as the more bright and showy bedding plants. I quite
agree with a great many people in their contention that

72 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

glass structures are altogether out of place in the
Topiary garden. But provision should be made for
them in some way or other, and as a rule some place
can be found for the erection of a few houses without
clashing with the other features of the garden.

If the garden has been laid out on a large scale, and
contains a quantity of large beds, as regards the work
of arranging and deciding what each bed is to be planted
with, the person who is responsible will have to be
guided by circumstances to a certain extent according
to the accommodation that is already at hand, or is to
be provided for the raising of bedding plants.

In every garden, and especially in the Topiary garden,
the beds should be so arranged that they will yield as
far as possible a continual show of bloom for as many
months of the year as flowers will bloom in the garden.
A continual supply of bloom for the longest possible
time is the principal object to be aimed at. Of course in
the arrangement of the beds it will be necessary to plant
some of them with herbaceous plants ; others may be
planted with roses ; as both roses and herbaceous plants
look well in any garden. But in the using of perennial
plants of any kind, I would strongly recommend that
they should be planted more in the background and in
large borders, instead of in the more important beds in
the garden. These last should be reserved for bedding
plants, as no matter whether roses, or any other kind
of plants, be used, the same brilliant and desirable effect
can never be obtained as is to be had from the more
showy and more easily massed bedding plants. In the
planting of herbaceous or any variety of plants, excep-
tional care should be taken to keep the plants far enough
away from the trees, so as to avoid all injurious effects
from the summer's growth coming in contact with
the yews. If the practice of planting close up to the
trees is followed, on purpose to avoid bare patches in

A SWAN CUT IN BOX AT COMPTON WYNYATES

COTTAGE TOPIARY AT NORTH WEALD, ESSEX

MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 73

the borders, the result will be disastrous to the more
important part of the garden, viz., the Topiary work.
But as bare patches are always unsightly in the border,
they should be avoided as far as possible by planting the
very dwarf growing herbaceous plants in close proximity
to the trees. It is a plan that can very well be followed
in perennial planting, but it is more difficult to manage
in the more important work of bedding out for the
summer months, especially if large and tall growing
plants are extensively used.

If it should happen, as I remarked before in this
chapter, that the glass accommodation is limited, it is of
particular importance that the utmost use be made of
what there is at hand for the storing and propagating of
bedding plants, more especially if the requirements of
the place are such as to make an autumn display of bloom
one of the most important features in the garden. If
such is the case, it will be necessary when the bedding
season arrives, to be careful that only such plants are
used as will be at their best in the autumn, more
especially in the most important beds. No attempt
whatever should be made at carpet bedding ; it is a
style of bedding that has very little to recommend it at any
time and certainly none in the Topiary garden ; for one
reason it is much too stiff for a garden where there are
a great many clipped yews. Of course in a new garden
that has been recently laid out and where both the trees
and the box edging are in a small state, the system of
carpet bedding may be practised by those who wish to
entirely discard Nature from their gardens. But if the
garden is an old one, full of old specimen yews, the
larger and taller growing the bedding plants are that
are used for bedding out purposes, the better. I will
name a few of the bedding plants that are extensively
used in the gardens here at Levens ; but of course, as
is well known, the gardens here are among the oldest

74 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

examples of Topiary work in England. There are some
varieties of bedding plants that are far more effective
than others when planted among yews, and among the
most suitable, there is nothing that has more effect than
the brilliant scarlet Lobelia cardinalis and its varieties.
Some objection may perhaps be taken to the plant by
some people, but when planted in large masses among
the sombre yews in a Topiary garden, I have not the
slightest hesitation in saying it has no equal : when
growing in large masses with a background of green
yew and the sun shining on the dark foliage and brilliant
scarlet flowers, the effect is really beautiful. Perhaps
the only drawback to the various varieties of Lobelia
cardinalis is the difficulty experienced by some in keeping
it over winter ; but if instead of following the old system
of partly drying it off in winter, directly it is lifted out of
the beds, one places it in a frame or greenhouse with a
gentle heat and gives it a fair amount of water, thus
encouraging it to start into growth at once, the difficulty
will to a very great extent be done away with. Another
favourite plant here, and one that is greatly used for
bedding out purposes in the Topiary garden, is the
beautiful old-fashioned plant Salvia patens. Like the
scarlet lobelias, Salvia patens should be largely grown in
every garden where there are a lot of yews. The
brilliant blue of the flowers against the dark green of
the yew trees has a very striking effect indeed, either
when planted in masses by itself or mixed in the beds
along with the scarlet lobelia or the tall yellow
Calceolarias amplexicaulis. But the foliage of the Salvia
patens has not the same showy appearance as that of the
Lobelia cardinalis, but this is a point that can be over-
looked, as the brilliant blue of the flowers fully com-
pensates one for the lack of beauty in the plant, and it
rarely happens among the general stock of bedding
plants that one can find plants with foliage and flowers

MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 75

equally effective. But in my opinion, if a fault is to be
found with the Salvia patens as a bedding plant, it is its
inability to withstand wet weather. Through that cause
it is very often denuded of its flowers, but it very soon
revives with a few bright days. Among other plants
that are extremely useful for bedding purposes in the
Topiary garden are the taller growing varieties of
fuschias that are hardy enough to stand planting out in
the flower garden, and more especially if the yews are
old and large ; fuschias planted either in clumps or
massed alone in large beds with a groundwork of violas,
or some other suitable plants, will give a very striking
effect among yews, and they have the additional
advantage of giving a good show of bloom during a
mild autumn long after the majority of bedding plants
have finished flowering, which is a quality that ought to
recommend them in any garden as well as the Topiary
one. In most gardens, variety of plants is considered a
necessity in the work of bedding out, and space will
not permit me to point out the special qualities of each
and every different variety of plant that may be used in
the embellishment of a Topiary garden, but I will give
the names of a few that I have found most suitable and
effective for bedding out in a garden where the yew
tree is extensively grown. The different types of
antirrhinums, both dwarf and tall growing varieties,
calceolarias, cannas, begonias, heliotropes, yellow and
white marguerites, gladioli, and the various varieties of
geraniums. Geraniums, and more especially the ivy
leaved varieties, should be given a place in the garden
if beds that are suitable for them blooming well can be
found for them. Grown as pyramids or trained over a
wire framework three or four feet high, the effect is
very pretty.

In all the bedding arrangements of a Topiary garden,
a natural appearance is a thing that should be studied

76 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

and as much as possible sought. Always remember
that in the practice of clipping and training yews into
all kinds of shapes, Nature is to a very great extent
discarded, therefore there is all the more reason why it
should be as much as possible encouraged among the
plants in the flower garden ; all stiffness should be
avoided and as little tying as possible done ; though of
course a certain amount of tying will be necessary to
keep the wind and storm from breaking the plants, unless,
indeed, the garden is a sheltered one.

There is another point that should be aimed at in the
old formal garden, and that is, to always keep the
garden well supplied with old-fashioned flowers. I
certainly do not mean it to be understood that none of
the new and beautiful varieties of the different species
of garden plants that are being introduced every year
should not be given a place in the garden, but what I
want to be understood is this, that there should not be
a wholesale clearing out of the old favourites to make
room for the new ones.

As I pointed out before, the general routine of work
in the Topiary garden is, with the exception of the
clipping and training part of the work, practically the
same as in any other garden. If there is a kitchen
garden, a necessity that almost every garden, whether
Topiary or otherwise, is almost certain to have attached
to it, the work of looking after and attending to the
various kinds of vegetables will have to be seen to,
and a trim and tidy appearance kept in it, more especially
if it is combined with the Topiary garden.

If the garden has been laid out on the principle
recommended in the chapter dealing with the Formation
of a Topiary Garden, and the paths in the flower garden
and grounds are composed principally of grass, a fair
amount of care and attention will have to be given to
them to keep them in proper order. Grass paths are,

MANAGEMENT OF TOPIARY GARDEN 77

and always have been, one of the principal features of
the formal garden, and no amount of labour and care
should be considered wasted in keeping them in good
condition. Grass paths require far more labour and
attention in keeping them in proper order than those
that are composed of some hard substratum, especially
if there is a considerable amount of traffic on them ;
if such is the case, it will be necessary to go over
them every spring and re-turf places that have got
worn out, afterwards well rolling them 5 then during
the summer and autumn months they will require
constant attention in the way of mowing and in keep-
ing the edges well clipped so as to maintain a clean
and tidy appearance.

In the Topiary garden it should always be remembered
that everything should be kept in as trim and formal
a condition as possible, with the exception of the
different varieties of plants or shrubs that have been
planted for the purpose of giving colour to the garden ;
amongst those, Nature should as far as is consistent be
encouraged ; but the walks, beds and borders, and
everything else in the garden should be made to
present as formal an appearance as possible. If the
garden is a formal one, let as much as possible in it
be made to have a formal appearance.

In writing on the Topiary garden, I have perhaps
made it appear to some of those who may read it as
hideously unnatural, and I am aware there are plenty who
maintain that it is a style of gardening that has nothing
to recommend or encourage about it. But those who
think that the formal garden is without its charm make a
very great mistake, as in every old world garden there
is a charm that belongs to it only. In the woods and
the parks let us by all means study and cultivate Nature
as far as possible ; but in the gardens we should have
the trees to present as neat and formal an appearance

78 THE BOOK OF TOPIARY

as possible, a thing that can only be had by the aid
of constant clipping or pruning.

For a great many years past, in this country at
least, the Topiary garden has been to a very large
extent a thing that belongs to other ages ; especially
does this apply to the formation of new gardens ; but
there is not wanting evidence at the present day that
it is again coming into favour, and deservedly so. The
Topiary garden has its drawbacks, principally on account
of the great number of years it takes to bring it to
perfection and the amount of extra labour that requires
to be spent over the clipping at various periods of
the year. There is one thing to remember about the
Topiary garden, it is all work.

Perhaps at the present time Topiary gardening is a
subject of far greater interest to rich men in America
than it is over here, and as gardening might practically
be said to be in its infancy in that great country, there
is hardly any reason why the art of Topiary work may
not have a great future in store for it in America.

INDEX

Addison, 24, 25.
Age of clipped trees, 3$.
Alphabet in Topiary work, 63, 64.
Amherst's, Hon. Alicia, « History

of Gardening in England," 13,

15.
Ascott, Topiary garden at, 36.

B.

Bacon, Lord, 6, 22.
Batty Langley, 20.
Beaumont, 17, 37.
Box edgings, 43.
Box trees, 47, 56.
Bridgeman, 30, 31.
Brown, 31.

C.

Canons A.shby, 13.

Catalogue of Topiary, Pope's, 29,

3°-
Cheal & Sons, Messrs J., 33.

Clipping, 50, 54.

,, best time for, 51.

,, worst time for, 56.
Cutbush & Son, Messrs Wm., 33.
Cutbush, Mr Herbert J., 33.

D.

Danesfield, Marlow, 36.

De Cerceau, 10.

Details of general management, 70.

Dutch commercial Topiary work,

34-
Dutch verdant sculpture, 18.

E.

Early history of Topiary, 6.
Elizabethan gardens, 12, 2Z.
Elvaston Castle, 32.
Evelyn, John, 13, 18.

F.

Fantastic Topiary designs, 30.
Flowers and Topiary, 41, 42, 70,

Formation of a Topiary garden, 37,

60, 61.
Friar Park, Topiary garden at, 36.

G.

Gerard, 14.

Golden age of Topiary, 12.
Gordon, Mr G., on modern Topi-
ary, 32.

Grass paths, 76, 77.
Grecian formal gardens, 6, 7.

H.

Hampton Court, 5, 17, 21.

Harrison, Wm., 13, 15.

Hedges, 54, 68.

Heslington, 15.

Hibberd, Shirley, on Topiary, 4,

12.

Holinshed's Chronicles, 13, 15.
Holly, 47, 56.

Hunting scene in Topiary work,
1 6.

79

8o

INDEX

K.

Kensington Gardens, 18.
Kent, 31.

Labyrinths and mazes, 10.

Lawson, 15.

Le Notre, 16.

Levens Hall, Westmoreland, 17,

32> 37> 73-

Limit of Topiary, 18.
London & Wise, 18.
Lowe, Mr John, on Topiary, 12.

M.

Manuring, 45.

Mason on Addison and Pope, 24.
Milner, Mr H. E., on Topiary, 19.
M'Intosh on Topiary, 21.
Moor Park, Dutch garden at, 17.
Mulching, 48.

N.
Nicholson, Mr G., on Topiary, 4.

O.

Old trees, 50.

P.

Parkinson, 14.
Planting, 45.

,, time for, 46.
Pliny's garden, 7.
Pope, 24.

Prices of Topiary designs, 35.
Privet, 14, 46.

R.

Revival of Topiary, 32.
Roman Topiary work, 7.

Rosamund's Bower, 10.
Rosemary, 5.

S.

Salvia patens, 74.

Satire on Topiary, 25, 27, 29.

Sayes Court, Deptford, 19.

Shears, 69.

Siege of Troy, 18.

Site for Topiary garden, 38.

Soil „ „ 44.

T.

Temple, Sir Wm., 17, 28, 31.
Topiary and flower gardening, 41,

42, 70, 75.
Topiary designs, modern, 34, 35,

63-
Topiary, etymology of, 4.

,, gardens, formation of, 37.

,, ,, modern, 36.

,, in America, 78.

,, overdone, 19.
Training, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67.
T7ing> 53-

V.

Verdant sculpture, 27.
Versailles, 16.

W.

William and Mary, Topiary in the

reign of, 17.
Witley Court, 36.
Wright, Mr W. P., on Topiary, 3 2.

Y.

Yew tree, 15, 47.

„ „ golden, 47.
Young clipped trees, 58.

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usually to be found in British gardens.

Vol. XVIII.— THE BOOK OF TOPIARY. By CHARLES

H. CURTIS and W. GIBSON, Head Gardener at Levens Hall.
A textbook of the topiary art, together with some account and famous
examples of the application of that art.
Vol. XIX.— THE BOOK OF TOWN AND WINDOW

GARDENING. By Mrs F. A. BARDSWELL.

A handbook for those lovers of flowers who are compelled to live in a
town. The book should be helpful even to those who are quite ignorant
in the art of growing plants, and advice is given as to the plants most
suitable to the various adverse conditions which town gardens afford.

Vol. XX.— THE BOOK OF RARER VEGETABLES. By
GEORGE WYTHES, V.M.H., Head Gardener to the Duke of North-
umberland, and HARRY ROBERTS.

This work deals with a number of vegetables possessing choice flavour,
that are little grown in modern gardens. Not only does the book explain
the best methods of cultivation, but also describes the ways in which the
several vegetables should be cooked and dressed for the table.

Vol. XXL— THE BOOK OF THE IRIS.

A practical guide to the cultivation of the Iris, and also a description of
and key to all the garden species and varieties. The book will interest
equally the botanical student, the practical gardener, and the lover of
beautiful flowers.

Vol. XXII.— THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE.

A practical handbook to the selection, construction, and arrangement of
the various buildings, trellises, pergolas, arches, seats, sundials, fountains,
and other structures.

Vol. XXIII.— THE BOOK OF THE CARNATION. By

C. P. BROTHERSTON and MARTIN R. SMITH.
Vol. XXIV. THE BOOK OF THE SCENTED GARDEN.

By F. W. BURBIDGE.
Vol. XXV, THE BOOK OF GARDEN DESIGN. By

CHARLES THONGER.

T^TJTVT T AXTT? D UT u LONDON : VIGO STREET, W.

JOHN LANE, Publisher : NEw YORK: 67 FIFTH AVENUE

J. CHEAL & SONS

THE NURSERIES

CRAWLEY, SUSSEX

HAVE

THE LARGEST STOCK IN THE
COUNTRY

OF

HOME-TRAINED TOPIARY TREES

GREAT VARIETY OF PATTERNS AND SIZES
ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE FREE

MR JOHN LANE -will send Post Free to any
address, a copy of the Booklet entitled " Books For
and About Gardens" containing particulars of his
Publications of interest to lovers of gardens, gardening,
etc., •with Illustrations by F. L. Griggs, E. H. Neiu,
Donald Maxwell, R. H. Moor, etc.

JOHN LANE, PUBLISHER, LONDON AND NEW YORK

WM. CUTBUSH & SON'S SPECIALITIES

CARNATIONS. — The finest stocks of Malmaisons, Tree or
Winter-flowering, and Border Varieties, in strong, clean, and healthy
Plants ; also large collections of Pinks, Cloves, &c.

ROSES. — An immense stock of Standard, Dwarf, and Climb-
ing Roses, and also many thousands grown in pots.

FRUIT TREES. — Grand perfect trees in Standard, Pyramid,
Dwarf, and Horizontal-trained, and Cordon form, and also a quantity
grown in pots for indoor culture. The Peaches, Nectarines, and
Apricots are especially fine, and include many extra-sized trees for
next season's fruiting. Also Fruiting and Planting Vines, Figs, Mul-
berries, &c.

CUTBUSH'S CUT BUSHES.— An immense quantity of

Yews and Box clipped into many curious shapes, such as Birds, Ships,
Tables, Spiral Columns, Dogs, &c. Also an exceedingly fine stock of
Box and Yew Trees in Pyramid form, and Standard and Pyramidal
Bay Trees in perfect condition established in tubs.

SHRUBS AND CONIFERS.— An extensive collection of

Coniferse and Deciduous and Evergreen Shrubs, bushy and well-
rooted plants in all sizes. Also an immense stock of Yews, up to 6 feet
in height, specially prepared for hedge planting.

STOVE AND GREENHOUSE PLANTS.— An extensive
stock of Palms, Climbers, and Decorative Plants generally, and also a
large quantity of well-grown Autumn and Winter-flowering Plants.

FORCING PLANTS, &c. -The collection of Plants for

Forcing is considered the finest in existence, and a great speciality is
made of Azaleas, Deutzias, Lilacs, Wistarias, Guelder Rose, Staphylea,
and many other varieties of Plants for Forcing purposes. Large
quantities of Plants and Roots can be supplied in retarded form, such
as Lily of the Valley, Liliums, Azalea mollis, &c., for flowering at any
season of the year.

ALPINE AND HERBACEOUS PLANTS.— An unique

and up-to-date collection, including many Grand Novelties offtredfor
the first time. Nymphseas and other Plants for the Aquatic, Bog, and
Wild Garden being extensively grown.

HARDY CLIMBERS. — An immense quantity of Ivies,
Honeysuckles, Wistaria, Ampelopsis, Clematis, Jasmines, &c., &c., in
all sizes up to 10 feet high.

TREES. — A large and varied collection of Hardy Ornamental
Trees ; also grand stocks of Limes, Planes, Poplars, Elms, Sycamores,
Birch, &c., grown singly, specially for Park and Avenue Planting.

LANDSCAPE GARDENING AND PLANTING.— Plans

and Estimates may be had for the Laying-out and Planting of New, or
the Renovation of Existing Gardens in any part of the Kingdom.
SEED AND BULB DEPARTMENTS.— Special attention
is given to the selection of the finest produce of the Dutch, French,
American, and other growers, and being probably the largest importers
in this country, we are in a position to offer the finest quality bulbs upon
special terms. Every care is taken in the saving and selection of Seeds.

Catalogues Post Free on Application.

WM. CUTBUSH & SON

Nurserymen by Special Warrant to His Majesty King Edward VII.
HIGHGATE NURSERIES, LONDON, N., AND BARNET, HERTS.

Telegraphic Address— Telephone—

" CUTBUSH, LONDON." No. 160 NORTH

ONE & ALL GARDENING"

A most useful book for Amateur Gardeners.
200 pages profusely Illustrated.

PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, PRICE 2d.

EDITED BY

EDWARD OWEN GREENING.

PUBLISHED AT 92 LONG ACRE, W.C.

FOR SALE AT ALL BOOKSTALLS, NEWSAGENTS, ETC.

THE COUNTRY HANDBOOKS.

A Series of Illustrated Practical Handbooks dealing

with Country Life. Suitable for the Pocket or

Knapsack. Under the General Editorship of

HARRY ROBERTS.

Fcap. 8vo. (6^ by 4 in.).
Price, bound in Limp Cloth, 3/- net.
Price, bound in Limp Leather, 4/- net.

Ne*w Volumes.

Vol. VI. THE WOMAN OUT OF DOORS. By
MENIE MURIEL DOWIE.

Vol. VII. THE STABLE HANDBOOK. By T. F.

DALE. With Numerous Illustrations.

*^* A concise ', practical handbook on the feeding,

grooming, training, housing, and general management of

horses, written by a well-known breeder. Especially

useful to the owner of one or two horses.

THE LITTLE FARM. By " HOME COUNTIES."

With Numerous Illustrations.
*_£* The aim of this book is to give the towns-
man, who wishes to have a little place of his own in
the country, true notions of the conditions under which
even the smallest farm needs to be managed. Special
attention is given to fruit-growing and to the manage-
ment of small stock.

Volumes already Published.

Vol. I. THE TRAMP'S HANDBOOK. By H. ROBERTS.
Vol. II. THE MOTOR BOOK. By R. J. MECREDY.
Vol III. THE TREE BOOK. By MARY R. JARVIS.
Vol. IV. THE STILL ROOM. By Mrs ROUNDELL.
Vol. V THE BIRD BOOK. By A. J. R. ROBERTS.
Vol. VIII. THE FISHERMAN'S HANDBOOK. By EDGAR

S. SURUBSOLE.

Vol. IX. THE SAILING HANDBOOK. By CLOVE HITCH.
Vol. X. THE KENNEL HANDBOOK. By C. J. DAVIES.
Vol. XI. THE GUN ROOM. By ALEX. INNES SHAND.

*Jff* An Illustrated Prospectus, Post Free, on application.
JOHN LANE, Publisher: VIGO STREET, LONDON, W.

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